Cappuccino Musings

Indian Idol
There were days in good old Doordarshan when we had mini-serials which usually lasted for 13 episodes. The prime time shows did not have to walk the tight rope of TRPs. The viewers didn't have to watch the shows amidst frantic punching of SMS'es. These shows did not trigger blog-wars on the internet and spawn countless Orkut communities. Those were the days when TV shows were not corporate "brands".
Enter Indian Idol.
I can't help wondering that if the urban Indians voted in our electons with the same zeal as they vote for Indian idol, we probably would have had a much better political system.
This only speaks about how our media vigorously market their shows. They don't have to wait for a India-Pakistan cricket dual to get the entire nation's frenzy. They know just the right ingredients to package a TV show into something a family would love to discuss at the dinner table. The show managers probably wouldn't mind people like Javed Akhtar and Annu Malek making absolute fools of themselves as long as they can fuel more debates among the janta. The gossip rooms are filled with smoky rumours of Chang-Deepali fling. Gender debate, regionalism debate - you name it, Indian Idol's got it.
People who talk about indian police's inefficiency and condemn it for not acting fast, haven't obviously seen the way it has been voting for Prashant Tamang. Another contestant, Amit Paul, has been named the Ambassador of Meghalaya. When was the last time a person got a chance to be the ambassador of a state because of a singing competition? To quantify the nation's hysteria for the show, every episode receives a whopping 50 lac votes.
This only shows how a mere singing competition, if packaged into a nice brand, can become an absolute hit. Some food for thought for wannabe MBAs?