Bigg Loss?

For beginners, Bigg Boss is an Indian adaptation of the famous International Reality TV Show - Big Brother, a term which originated from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The concept of the show is such that a bunch of conflicting characters (lesser-known-TV-and-film actors) are made to stay with each other in a house for 90-odd days. How they turn friends, bicker on petty issues, get into ugly confrontations, form groups, play stupid, politicize the developments and try to nominate one another to be eventually voted out by audience one by one till the last man standing form the crux of the show.

Season after season, the show has been getting eyeballs. After the first few boring episodes wherein the contestants manage to keep up the façade by taking politically-correct stances, the audience begins to enjoy themselves watching the drama unfold before their eyes as familiarity (and competition) starts breeding contempt and the bunch of jokers come out of their shell and start baring their base selves.  And we, as a voyeuristic audience, love that!. Don’t we?

So, what kind of people makes it to the show? The makers of the show consider names that will get them a good mix of entertainment, vulgarity, controversy, romance, verbal-duels and well, lots of TRPs. Established celebrities usually avoid reality shows. So, either those who haven’t been lucky enough to get their ‘big break’ in the entertainment industry or ones who remain in focus for all the wrong reasons usually make the cut. Some of them accept the offer from the channel merely out of desperation while others come with calculated risks hoping that the show will catapult their sagging careers to new and favorable heights.

The host of the show is played, surprisingly, very well by popular film-star Salman Khan. I think there couldn’t have been a better choice. Though he plays the role of a buffer by showing the mirror to the participants every now and then, he himself loses temper and behaves in a quirky manner from time to time. Thus, his personality blurs into the format of the show to the T.

Now, what all happens in the show is not something that propelled me to write this blog. Instead, what caught my fancy is the intention and hope with which the participants agree to come on the show in the first place. If I am to put it succinctly, I would say it is decent money, national exposure and possibility of lucrative projects in future that drive them to join the show. So, what happens to the winners eventually? What about the runner-ups? Does the show really boost their career in any which way?

Contrary to expectations, history has it that the show has done little to make directionless careers head northwards. None of the winners from the previous seven seasons has benefitted from the show and went on to make it big. Today, as I write, the winner of Season-8, Gautam Gulati, must be over the moon and somersaulting in his new-found glory (He turned out to be the winner in the Grand Finale last night).

I think what proves to be the nemesis for the contestants is the fact that they get 'overexposed' on the show which is like a death knell for actors. I think actors need to have an aura of enigma and mysticism in order to be successful professionally. Once they get exposed to the death, they fall out of favor with the audience for they have seen all the facets of their personalities. Spectators tend to lose interest in the characters these actors play on-screen for they know how the actors actually behave when they face certain situations in reality. For example, if an actor (as a contestant on the reality show) is well-known for breaking down under slightest of pressure or doesn't know how to take criticism/ antagonism in their stride, he will never be convincing enough to pull off role of a tough cop on-screen. By the same token, if another actor is notorious for being a foul-mouthed guy, he would never be able to draw reverence from audience when playing God in a mythical saga.

It is indeed heart-breaking to see that even after struggling throughout the seasons and passing the litmus test, winners’ careers do not get wings. I seriously hope that, unlike previous victors, the winner of this season (Bigg Boss-8) goes on to succeed in life and bags lucrative offers in the industry. Sadly enough, that hasn’t been the story so far. They come out of obscurity to give fleeting public appearances only to be slipped back into the abyss of oblivion and mediocrity. Alas!