Comments on: “Is India ready to face its moment of truth?”: the hullabaloo over Indian reality TV http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2009/11/07/is-india-ready-to-face-its-moment-of-truth-the-hullabaloo-over-indian-reality-tv/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Sreya Mitra http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2009/11/07/is-india-ready-to-face-its-moment-of-truth-the-hullabaloo-over-indian-reality-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-38 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:42:22 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=133#comment-38 ‘Sach ka Saamna’ underlines not only the localization of a format show, but also the innovations and hybridity that the process entails. For example, the show’s caption “sach ki agnipariksha,” which gives it a very different (and novel) twist. “Agnipariksha,” literally means “test by fire,” and has mythological connotations (in the epic Ramayana, Sita had to undergo a test by fire to prove her chastity), while “sach” means truth. In other words, the humiliation that the contestant had to undergo during their “moment of truth” was the inevitable ‘sacrifice’ that the dedication to truth demanded.

Star’s aggressive pre-launch publicity campaign had centered extensively on how the show propagated Gandhian ethics of truth and honesty, and how it could have a liberating influence on a society like India, riddled with hypocrisy and double standards. Even during the show, the discourse was rarely about money, or winning. Instead the focus was more on acknowledging the truth and how by doing so, the contestants could became role models who set examples.

Interestingly, in some ways, the show almost seemed to endorse television’s role as a public forum, as a mitigator of private issues – which then brings us to questions of public/private, family, domestic space etc.

]]> By: kglass http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2009/11/07/is-india-ready-to-face-its-moment-of-truth-the-hullabaloo-over-indian-reality-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:08:38 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=133#comment-17 It will be extremely interesting to see if it is able to come back. While I found the show too uncomfortable to watch when it was here in the US your analysis brings up some fascinating questions about it in a different context. The moment of truth show in various forms has been pretty common here, especially in 90s afternoon talk shows. The huge impact it seems to have elsewhere is intriguing. That articles like some of those sited above refer to the show to ruining families when violence is incited by the asking and answering of questions was surprising to me. Perhaps most importantly what you have written brings up important question about the now routine import of tv shows and format globally and the unintended affects of this in different cultural contexts.

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