Nerve Endings Firing Away

Hot on the heels of censorship fears, comes yet another move:

An Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother will come with a ban on “hanky panky,” producers say. “Participants will be told to keep their hands to themselves,” a spokeswoman for production company Endemol India told BBC News.

“India is a conservative society and is not ready for the raunchy scenes that so characterise the programmes in the West,” she continued.

Although India might be a conservative society compared to ‘oh-so-raunchy’ Europe or the ‘shameless’ America, it doesn’t sound right to be told so especially when we are talking about a stupid television program. Come on, how ‘raunchy’ can celebrity Big Brother in India get? First of all, the participants will be “celebrities from Bollywood, cricket and Indian TV” and we are already privy to intimate details of their personal lives thanks to yellow journalism. Do you think they will ratchet it up considering they have a camera in their face? After all, hum sab bharteeya hai aur samaj ke maryaada mein rehte hai just so that we can answer the ever-present question of log kya kahenge? Check the log file, I say…ok bad joke.

For instance, let us assume the show producers give no such instructions of ‘keep your hands to yourself’ (now that still keeps options open, you see), do you suppose these celebrity guests will be inspired by their European and American counterparts and do exactly as they do? Probably not. If we let the show take it own course, we would see a distinct Indian version of reality TV – lotsa bitching, back-stabbing, and running people down. Now that would get high TRPs. The article continues:

Both Muslims and Hindus could be chosen but issues between religions would not be discussed on the programme, said managing director of Endemol India, Rajesh Kamat.

Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the Indian incarnation will not broadcast live, in order to avoid untoward scenes being shown.

Now, wouldn’t religious tensions be eased and much fog cleared if Muslim and Hindus could freely talk about their religious views or maybe even be exposed to the ‘other’ side can show light to ‘this’ side. I don’t assume a communal riot will erupt on the set. After all, these ‘celebrities’ are hardly known to burn bridges. Again, remember they have the camera in their faces. This big advantage of self-censoring [by participants] is squanded away by a non-live broadcast. What are they afraid of? A waldrobe malfunction? We already have had that. What could be worse?

India is still a relatively conservative society. Very few couples live together before marriage, and intimate acts, such as kissing, are never seen on TV screens.

However, soaps regularly feature storylines about infidelity and pregnancy out of wedlock.

What else can I add? Hypocricy is thy name. Ever notice that even in the glory days of Bollywood cinema, ‘love marriage’ was always promoted and even hailed even when in reality such a thing was frowned upon. It is still the same. We still demand dowry and try to burn widows in the name of traditiona though. Kab sudrenge!