Take it all with a pinch of salt :)

I am not a TV freak. The only shows I used to consume till a few years back were music shows and contests, Saregama specially. However, recently such shows multiplied and then there were so many of them that I got confused and gave up watching them completely. This one particular show Nach Baliye (where celebrity couples come on stage and perform a dance) did seem exciting to me but somehow I never got enough time to watch it regularly. Today, while the third season of Nach Baliye is on, I sat down to watch it, start to finish. To begin with, the anchor in his welcome note cum marketing pitch came up with this grammatically incorrect sentence "Welcome to Garnier presents Nach Baliye"!!! I mean, give us a break. I mean agreed that you cannot overloo the sponsor but then sponsor can be separately acknowledged no? Moving on, there was a foreigner participant in the show as well. Now the anchor ends up asking that guy a question in Hindi. The question was the regular "kaisa lag raha hai apko" that the Indian broadcast media is so fond of. But that's not what was revealing as what happened next. This foreigner participant came up with some answer in English. I don't even remember what he answered as I just amazed at how gimmicky these shows have become. I mean, what was it if not a script explained to the guy before he came on camera? The complete show is full of gimmicks. People cry, abuse each other, get emotional, angry - basically anything that will give the show an emotional touch and hence will become sellable to the audience. This isn't the only show but most of the contest shows are like that. Aren't we somewhere at fault as an audience that buy these things thrown at us. We like drama and that's what's given to us. But I am sure there are a few who do wonder if what they are watching is real or a gimmick. Being a part of the media, all I can say is, as a reader and as a viewer, don't buy all ideas. Whatever you see or read or hear, take it all with a pinch of salt :)