Sach Ka Saamna, a reality show which airs on Star Plus, has opened to big TRPs. It has also opened up a big debate, with detractors claiming that the reality show promotes voyeurism and is against Indian culture.
The first episode saw a 4.6 TVR, the highest ever opening for a non-fiction Hindi show in the year 2009 and has maintained a steady rating of 4.3 TVR during the launch week, reaching out to 30 million viewers. We as a nation of couch potatoes were willing to lap up the next level of reality television – shock TV.
Let the truth prevail
However, over the first episodes, the show has thrown open a debate. Detractors have claimed that it blatantly encourages voyeurism. In fact, the argument has reached Parliament, with several politicians demanding a ban on the show, claiming it goes against Indian values and sensibilities.
Sach Ka Saamna is based on a US reality TV show called The Moment Of Truth, which given the hit formula, has been remade in 24 countries. Notably, this isn’t the first time the show has raised a storm.
On both American and Indian versions, the contestants have admitted to everything from infidelity or extramarital relation to embezzlement. But the participants know this and are perfectly willing to go on the show and answer these questions.
The whole idea of a contestant revealing sordid truths from his/her private life is to win a big stash of money – Rs 1 crore in India. In Greece, the show was banned after a man admitted being attracted to his wife’s brother. Columbia banned an episode where, in order to win $ 25,000, a woman admitted to hiring a hit man to kill her husband.
Siddharth Basu, chief executive officer, Big Synergy, producers of the show, defends as, “Sach Ka Saamna is all real. It is not a superficial show or casual voyeurism. At its best, it is about the power of confession and it forces you to sit up and take notice.”
Basu says, “The show is meant to be thought provoking, making people examine their relationships with truth and their values. Instead of sweeping things under the carpet, this show lifts the veil on what’s happening in society by holding up a mirror. And you can deal with it only if you acknowledge it.”
Keertan Adyanthaya, general manager and executive vice-president, Star Plus, adds, “The show is about judging a contestants capacity to face the truth. The audience has given an enthusiastic response because they identify with the questions asked, however intimate they may be.”
Moral police
For those not clued, in Sach Ka Saamna a contestant is made to undergo a lie-detecting polygraph test over around 50 questions on his or her personal life in advance.
Of these, 21 extremely sensitive questions are repeated on the show. The contestants reply is matched with the polygraph test result to check if he or she is telling the truth or lying in front of the camera.
Chief among those demanding a ban on the show in Parliament have been Kamal Akhtar of BSP, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and BJP’s Prakash Javadekar. They feel that a person revealing grimy details of his or her private life to win big money on reality TV is against Indian morality.
All of these self-appointed moral Indian guardians consider the show to be vulgar and offensive. It is possible the show is a crime against good taste, but, that does not warrant the government playing Big Brother in relation to it.
Ambika Soni, Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Minister, has received letters from the audience goading her to let the show continue. However, the I&B Ministry has issued show cause notice to Star Plus for “offending good taste and decency.”
Straight-forward questions
So, we have had former cricketer Vinod Kambli dealing with questions such as: Have you ever cheated on your wife Andrea? Have you ever asked a woman to abort your child? Can you truly forgive your father for beating you after stripping you?
Urvashi Dholakia, best known as Kasauti Zindagi Kay vamp Komolika, battled with questions such as: Were you expelled from college because you got pregnant as a minor? Did you ever have an affair with a married man?
Veteran actor Yusuf Hussain tackled some really embarrassing ones: Have you had sex with a female relative? Have you had sex with a girl younger than your daughter? Do you have an illegitimate child? Have you had sex with a prostitute?
Rajeev Khandelwal, host of the show, says, “We all have skeletons in the closet that we often try to hide. The courage lies in openly accepting it. If the contestants on this show are willing to accept the truth and face consequences, then that is commendable.”
Meanwhile, Rajeev says the bitterness of the truth has become recipe for instant drama. Over the episodes there will be family members walking out. Some relatives even break down while others start yelling with shock.
That the show will be hard on not just the contestant but also his her family was obvious in the first episode itself. The first contestant Smita Mathai’s husband Tony broke down when she admitted that she had thought of killing him during his height of alcoholism.
The original American show, despite running over a year now, has not seen a winner of the grand prize money. In India, Vinod Kambli, who quit after winning Rs 10 lakh, has been the highest winner showing more courage to discuss their personal lives, celebrities have mostly put their foot down on appearing on the show.
After Kambli, Urvashi Dholakia and Yusuf Hussain, the channel had approached several celebrities such as actors Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover and Chunky Pandey, filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, cricketer Salil Ankola, and lawyer Fiza Mohammad to participate in the show. All of them have declined.
Says Vikram Bhatt, “I haven’t done anything in my life that I am ashamed of. But speaking the truth could hurt those I care for.”
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has a similar reason, “My friends and enemies will die if I speak truth. That is the reason I will not participate on this show.”
Polygraph credibility
The moment of truth faced by contestants is difficult. The polygraph, which is just a machine, decides whether or not they’re telling the truth about their personal lives. They are left unable to accuse it of human error. But, is the polygraph or lie-detector really that accurate?
“I would say it’s 90 per cent accurate. The answers are in a ‘True/False’ format. If he becomes nervous, then there are changes in blood pressure (BP), pulse rate etc. These changes are analyzed.” says V C Misra, lecturer in forensic science at Amity University, Noida.
The polygraph, which is often used in criminal investigation, records bodily responses such as BP, pulse, respiration and galvanic skin responses (a change in the ability of the skin to conduct electricity, caused by emotions like fear) of the subject while he is answering questions.
When one of our senses detects a threat to our well being, it sends a signal to our autonomic nervous system, which governs involuntary reflexes such as respiration, heart beat and perspiration. The autonomic nervous system activates its sympathetic system and the heart begins to pump blood faster, increasing the BP, pulse rate, stimulating the sweat glands etc. Misra says the lie-detector test is a subtle process.
“The subject is first made comfortable by the examiner who asks him ordinary questions. Then, the nature of questions changes suddenly, triggering chemical changes in the brain. The accuracy of the test depends on the competence of the examiner, the mental and physical health of the subject, the thoroughness of the investigation before the test, the environmental conditions and some other factors.” Mishra says.
That we are frightened – of detection or the consequences – but not necessarily that we’re guilty. Fear activates physiological responses. But Misra points out, “Hardened criminals who have no fear, did not show much physiological change in the test.”
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