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Thursday, November 06, 2014

Bigg Boss 8

First, let us observe a minute of silence for our dearly departed discernment that has left us for good. Why else would we watch this sadism in the name of entertainment? Those who don't watch Bigg Boss, good for you. You save more than 100 hours of your life every season which you can use to complete a course, read good books, watch quality movies or do some community work.

The appeal in reality shows like BB is probably because humans are natural voyeurs. When they are bored, they will take a pair of binoculars and peek into the houses of neighbors like James Stewart of Rear Window. In the absence of that opportunity, we will gratify ourselves by watching strangers living in a house. A housemate brushing teeth on the live feed is entertainment after all.

I don't blame the contestants for the fights. The conditions are stressful. Very little comfort, restrictions on sleep after physical strain, limited rations and the simulated prison environment is enough to drive anyone crazy. It is a miracle that they don't turn cannibals to eliminate competition. Because the way they behave on the show makes you wonder why are they so desperate for footage. What good has Bigg Boss done to any of the previous winners, anyways? Shouldn't the platform be used to showcase your real talent and act like normal human beings? Oh wait, the channel can not profit from 'normal' people. So they incentivize arguments, no matter how unnecessary. How do you solve your problems in real life? By threatening people, fighting and pushing others away, of course! What else would civilized people do?

The past seasons had their share of negative characters, but this season has a particularly despicable lot. I don't understand why would someone waste their money on votes if they don't like anyone. The channel should focus on making the characters likable instead of goading them to dogfights. Then there is the cliche of contrived romance. We know Katniss and Peeta of Hunger Games, we know how it works. Even it is not scripted, it is a desperate attempt to survive in the show.

Now, there is a new wave in the house. ' Don't touch me' during tasks. How the hell are tasks supposed to happen?  Maybe they should have separate tasks for men and women. Real women don't use the woman card for unfair advantage.

So far, Preetam seems like the only sane person in the house, but he gives up on tasks too easily. And the ones who 'think' they are doing the task get unnecessarily aggressive so much so that you wish you could fast forward to where real conversations happen. Some humor, something creative, even tips on work out or fashion. Who am I kidding? I am not even the target audience of that show. However, the lower TRPs (compared to previous seasons) suggest that my response is representative of a larger pool of audience.

My appeal to the channel and contestants: Get creative, not aggressive. Make the luxury budget tasks more interesting. Make captaincy a challenge with a task between the nominees. Punish the rule breakers severely.  As a viewer, I demand more value for my time. 

3 comments:

azhor said...

I managed to stay away from the show for the previous seasons but got hooked this season as someone I knew loved discussions on BB :).
Now in terms of show, I dont think its channel's fault that they have got a couple of women who know that Women Card is the Trick to play. The creative team of the show I see tries to keep them honest by using Salman Intelligently and at times with Tasks like Make up vs Ration but thatz it.
Would love to read what else they can do.
Try and watch the show as if you were Creative team what would you have done to manage now that you ended up with these bad apples.

Aparna Ganguly said...

I made some generic suggestions about 1) making the luxury budget tasks more interesting, 2) making captaincy more challenging by making a compulsory task between the nominees (so they really deserve the privileges that come with it), and 3)punishing the rule breakers severely (and interesting punishments). Nigaar Khan is rumored to be coming on the show. Let's see if it helps. Renee fizzled out in the Weekend ka Vaar with Salman. What the house needs right now is a firecracker who won't mince her words. It is boring this season because everybody is playing safe. The creative team should give tasks that bring their real personalities forward, and not necessarily negative traits. I'd like to see more mind games. These people end up using brute force even in the simplest tasks, which exasperates the audience.

Unknown said...

Salman khan is nicly host Bigg Boss 8 i like this season