No, I am not talking of the Big Boss, or Big Brother, or Indian Idol, or Masterchef..
I am aware all of these have their humungous following, but most times, I am not a part of it.
But I am a film buff, if anything. And I like a lot of different genres of films. Including political drama, thrillers, adventure, etc.
So I would get my fill on these different kinds of films, by viewing interesting different films in the respective genres.
All the President’s Men for political drama.
Satya for a mafia thriller.
Poseidon Adventure for adventure.
And such.. scores of them, in fact.
And then suddenly, there were cameras everywhere in real life.
And there was connectivity.
And there was competition in news channels. And CNN and the Gulf War happened.
And things were never the same again.
We do not today, necessarily, need a fictional story narrated to us, in theatre, to give us the thrills.
We now have reality shows. Which we are so eager to lap up.
The live drama of terrorism and the forces battling it out, on 26/11.
The terrorist attacks, and the crumbling down in front of our eyes, of the iconic World Trade Center buildings on 9/11.
The audio tapes of RadiaGate, making us feel like a fly in the wall, in corporate political lobbying.
And the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, now.
Millions of us, all around the world, glueing on to our television sets, watching all this drama unfold in front of our eyes.
Much like a Slumdog Millionaire or a Titanic, which gets the world to go and watch. Except all these are not fiction. They are reality. And all these are live and evolving as we see. Where no director has already penned out the end of the story. The story is unfolding in front of our eyes, and nobody knows what the end will be. And there is no ‘match fixing’ either. It is indeed a suspense drama.
And while we see the action pieces, we also see the people. The scampering and escaping rescued folks from the Taj on 26/11.
Those that got saved at the World Trade Center, and the bodies of those who didn’t. And the mourners of the latter.
People caught in the tsunami in Japan, perhaps praying for their lives, desperately hanging on.
As if it was theatre, we the voyeurs of the world, keep watching, marveling, commenting, tweeting, updating Facebook. As we “enjoy” the screenplay. Sorry for the choice of the word – enjoy. But beyond a point, for all those who are at a distance from the happening, it is not much different from going into the theatre, and watching a film.
When that participant on Big Boss cries, we KNOW it is drama.
When the small child rescued in an earthquake has panic, fear and tears, do we see her different from the reality show on TV??
I don’t have answers. I am just posing questions. And sharing my views on the new realities of life..
What have you to say on this? Love to read other opinions..
Random Musings 