Modern soap opera or just voyeurism?

“These shows are modern soap operas”   

By Sujata Assomull

Everyone loves to hate them but reality shows work. That is the truth. While the critics are panning Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, the show is No. 1 in India, UAE, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and in the top 10 in Canada and South Africa. It is a global success, and that says it all. Why is that? Because these shows are modern soap operas; they are the 2.0 versions of Dynasty, Dallas and The Bold and the Beautiful.  

Being based on real life (or so we think, since there is actually a lot of behind the scene scripting), they let us escape into the world of the rich and famous. And right now when we cannot travel, this is just the ticket we are looking for. Plus, they make us realise that the lives of the jet-set elite are not as ‘fabulous’ as we think. 

Stars of reality shows have no idea what living in the real world means, and really are in need of a reality check themselves. A show like Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives is a bit of respite from your life, a bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously! The fact it gets TRPs really is proof that the audience loves it! 

Sujata Assomull is a Dubai-based fashion journalist and author

“It’s dodgy content we should have outgrown”

By Ankur Pathak

We thought the rise of streaming services meant that the days of cringe television were behind us. However, unlike in the US, where streaming companies compete with network studios that already set the bar high (HBO/Showtime), India’s OTT shows appear to be mirroring dodgy content from television that we thought we had outgrown.

I have absolutely no problem looking at a show in its context, but even within that paradigm, we need to hold it to a certain standard. We have to demand better. The Netflix show Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives could have been an interesting window into the complications that the intersection of fame and money can bring to people’s lives but it’s been reduced to privilege tourism and lifestyle porn, offering a dubious, sanitised version of what life in rarefied circles looks like. 

Reality TV has always remained in the realm of addictive, guilty pleasures, but higher budgets, emerging talent, and a new medium offer the opportunity to turn trash into something that carries emotional truths and makes a comment on the stratified nature of our society. Unless we’re more imaginative with these shows, they’ll be reduced to some version of Bigg Boss, only with better wardrobes.

Ankur Pathak is a Mumbai-based entertainment journalist

From HT Brunch, December 6, 2020

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