Indian Idle?

Indian Idol is touted to be the most popular TV show by its official websites. What better indicator does one need to guage what idle minds and bodies will not do in the name of entertainment. This reality show is the exact copy of the American Idol, including a close copy of the display logo. Why a country of more than a billion people cannot come up with anything original I will leave for you to imagine. But the sheer magnitude and opulence of this show with all its hype makes me wonder what the objective of this colossal waste of time and money is all about?

Running into its fifth season there are only two attractions for the audience: Hussain Kuwajerwala and the young boys and girls who try so hard to sing well- and usually deliver the goods- though the quality of singing isn’t getting any better with successive seasons. So what is this program about anyway? Have we found the idols we were looking for? I don’t even  remember the names of the winners of the previous seasons!

There was a feeble attempt to catapult the show's only woman winner Saurabhee Debbarma from season four by Sony but that fizzled out as they could not come up with anyother number other than “meherbaan”. Golden boy Suhit Gosain, Alisha Chinai’s favorite, was viewed on TV in a commerical for chocolate! Miang Chang, the charming dentist who switched careers is now seen hosting TV shows and acting in “bad”mash movies.

All the time, effort and money spent on polishing the talent of these youngsters- gone down oblivion lane. Not one has made a mark in the music and entertainment world in India. A very sad tale when one has to witness India’s first idol playing second fiddle to the immensely popular host, Hussain and fooling around on the small screen. Why don’t they give him a chance to do what he is supposed to be good at- singing?

And what can we say of the judges? The lesser said the better-actually! The incorrigible Anu Malik shows up like a bad coin in every edition of the show. His music? Unchi hai building, lift teri band hai...unique lyrics and even more singular melody! Watching Sunidhi Chauhan one is left to wonder: who is Sony promoting? She hogs the camera and floor space most of the time and gives every young contestant quite a competition.

Sreeramachandra, singing sensation from Hyderabad, will mostly likely be chosen Indian Idol 5. While wishing Sreeram good luck-he is truly amazing- I think its a pity that professional singers, who have a track record of having sung playback numbers in movies before, should be allowed to compete in an amateur’s club. It might be demoralizing for the other young participants who are equally good and who have equal right to be at the top.

I remember in the days of Doordarshan we had an array of fantastic programs suited for all age groups and interests. The epics Ramayan and Mahabharat, historical chronicles like Bharat Ek Khoj, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, the hasya kavi sammelans, comedy shows like Didi’s Comedy Show, mega serials like Humlog, Buniyaad and entertainment for children like Spider Man, Jungle Book, Duck Tales, Guchhe...ah! those were the days.

Then, there was but one channel and hunndreds of good programs to enjoy. Now we have hundreds of channels and not one decent program that you can sit down to watch with your family! This is the price one pays for progress, I suppose.