Jan 28, 2007 02:47 AM
10413 Views
Yes I have become a TOTAL television buff... I watch it 12 hrs a day and now thanx to it I am wearing spects while writing this one! :(
MTV Hero Honda Roadies is a familiar name with most of the TV viewers (except those who live in Haryana where the reception of MTv is not so clear). It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I call it The Baap of all Reality TV Shows. By saying this, I am neither advocating the fact that it is real nor true... it's a fact that it is all fixed and I have this information first hand from a junior at school who was a part of the show in its third season. But Roadies is one of the first reality TV shows and is completely different from the normal 'Talent Hunts'. Its gross, its blunt and its BOLD!!!
I have followed the show since its first season, to admit the truth... the first season was ultimate, like any other reality TV show. Last 2 seasons were VERY VERY average and one never knew when they came and when they flew away. This time round again MTv roadies was able to make a mark for itself with HUGE advertising, more number of contestants than ever and better competition. If I am not mistaken this time's competition was telecasted for maximum number of hours (including repeats) than any others!
It began with 13 Roadies after a Nation wide audition by judges including Vj Nikhil Chinnappa and Vj Ranvijay (a roadie himself). They began from South India and traveled all thru the boundaries and finished after some 85000Kms of Biking in the East.I started following it from the Jaipur vote out when they stayed at Chokhi Dhani (one of the best places I have ever visited) and there was HIGH TIME drama about who was to be 'voted out'
To begin with lemme clear some FAQs about MTV Roadies 2007 -
Roadie???... That's a person who likes being on roads… who has the guts and courage and strength to face all difficulties of survival in most harsh circumstances. Also who has all the possible political games set straight in his head. He/She knows when to flirt when to fight. Who can drive the best bike in the country for unlimited, unknown and unimaginable distances! Who thinks he/she’s cool just coz he/she wears skimpy branded clothes.
Vote out???... That’s a simple procedure where each roadie has to step forward one by one and write down the name of any one of the other roadie whom he/she wants to get thrown out of the show. The same drill is repeated every week at the different venues where the roadies reach and week by week one person or the other is chucked out to catch the winner. It is the MOST dreaded yet MOST awaited part by all the participants as well as the viewers. All the actions on the show revolve around the fear of this scary episode. Just one day before the ‘vote out’ you will see tension, anxiety, thrill, drama, fights, crying and a lot of politics!
Immunity ???... That’s equivalent to immortality! Every week there is a ‘task’ that the roadies are made to do, and the winner of the task gets what is called ‘immunity’, that is to say, that this person cannot be voted against in the up-coming vote out! Its like being the GOD for one day coz the person who gets immunity is the one who sees all the others dancing to his tunes and ready to become a party with him, to make sure that they can cling on to his immunity in one way or the other!
Task???... This is where the show becomes “Indian” as generally the tasks revolve around the different cultural sports, dances, etc of the region that the episode is being shot at. This in one way is the true test of the participants where they all fight for getting ‘Immunity’ which will make them secure and safe for the next vote out. They can be made to do something as easy as performing couple dances for Rakhi Sawant or doing the Assamese stick-dance or something as tricky as driving a cycle rickshaw backwards or as tough as being set on fire!!! But then it’s all worth it when at the end of it you become temporarily – Immortal!!! Also there is a prize money for each task which keeps getting collected and the winner of the show finally get the total sum.
Politics Or Game Plan???... This is one thing that sets this show’s “Attitude” very different from all other shows. Don’t even think of expecting people saying that the other person is better and he deserves to win and all that modesty!!! Its bout ME, I and MYSELF when it comes to being a Roadie… No it’s not being rude at all… Its bout facing the truth and saying it in the face! Its not about throwing out the people you think are wrong or not fit for the place, its simply about finding who is you toughest contender and then making a team against him/her and get them chucked out! And it’s not bad and neither is it cheap politics or anything… it’s a game plan!
The 4th season saw some of the Best action ever… Surprise vote outs and Shocking twists… one of the new concepts added was that of BadMan.Yes it is Gulshan Grover, who played a twist in the entire tale.He would drop in surprisingly and make some twists or the other in the entire melodrama and to add to the complications there was a sudden rumor about a ‘Spy’ in the gang of roadies.Though it came out to be a rumor… but it certainly did a lot of harm to a lot of people coz everyone started mistrusting the other one!
The FINAL FOUR contenders for the victory were Anthony (Kolkata), Raj (Kolkata),Gurbani (better known as Bani) (Chandigarh) and Poonam (Kolkata). As per the plan of the ‘Kolkata walas’, everything moved in their favor and they were able to survive as the FINAL contenders with the weakest contender of the show, Bani. Though none of them except for Poonam deserved to be there… still she was the first one out of the four to be thrown out. In the subsequent episode, Anthony managed to throw out Raj and secure his place as the final winner as Bani never had any chance any ways!
The finale of the show was telecasted today and as expected Anthony won it!
The show does attempts to flow in as a fresh breeze of air and add a ‘young-ish-ness’ to Indian Television, but still it leaves one amazed at the fact that these ‘cool’ ‘bikers’ that we see here are REALLY Indians? Amen coming from an educated family living in the capital of the country, its rare that I see young boys and girls with the kind of ‘attitude’ that these folks display. It surely is all fixed and so all that everyone says is scripted and enacted. Which leaves me MORE AMAZED at what the channel is trying to show to the youth? Taken and accepted that young people have to be strong and be able to adapt to everything and drive bikes, etc… etc… but then are we looking forward to a generation for whom being RUDE and CRUEL is being ‘cool’ and betraying friends behind their backs is a ‘game plan’? And of course the language HIGH TIME Fing S A H*ish and painted with phrases beyond imagination and beep sounds beyond count! A little sample would be the tag line for the show… “Jo Kamina Wohi Sikandar” !!! And the kind of questions being asked for the auditions … ‘Aap apne aapko sabse bara kameena kaise prove kareinge?’.
I am REALLY scared… where are we heading to???
PS – Special thanks to jhings for the inspiration! :)
