M e d i a Sc a n
O c c upied with
S c r i pted-Reality
Reality-shows: Are they a bundle of emotions?
T
he only thing permanent in life is
Change. Everything evolves and
keeps changing. The same can
be said of taste and likings of
people. When the attitude and
likings of the audience change, the me-
dia professionals have to tap their right
brains to give them something different.
It was when the viewers got bored with
the sci-fi serials, horror-shows, family
drama, talk-shows and mythological TV
shows, that the reality–shows made a
big-entry into the drawing rooms.
To be honest, we should congratulate
the brain that came up with the idea of
capturing ‘reality’, for the amount of dra-
ma, humour and horror being thrust into
such shows. Now, the audiences have
been spared the difficulty of surfing the
channels for different genres of shows.
All the genres are well packed into these
‘reality-shows’.
Ironically, the shows are named ‘reality-
shows’ but the content shown are anything
but real. Be it western shows or Indian shows,
the motto of the channels is to sensationalise
the events on and off the stage. More the
commotion on screen, higher the television
rating points (TRP) the show gains.
When a show gets shaped up in the stu-
dio, working towards the TRP and sponsors
become the priority of the producer. Next
comes the selection of the participants. I
Wonder how these reality shows get par-
ticipants who overreact to the situation.
(The better they exaggerate the more votes
they win). Understandably, the content and
the message of the show is the last one in
the order of the importance for a producer
or a director.
People still sit in front of the television and
weep now, only for a different reason. Not
because the heroine in their favourite se-
rial is beaten up, but their favourite pair in
the dance show is eliminated (God save
our audience!).
In one way reality shows are accept-
able. They have saved our audience from
gloomy saas-bahu serials. But in another
way it makes me feel that they have de-
graded the audience and downplayed
their taste. Scripted realities do nothing to
improve their knowledge and reasoning.
In India the craze for reality shows start-
ed when the Shilpa-Goody issue hit the
headlines. The Indian media have adapted
themselves to show ‘scripted reality’ with
more enthusiasm. Be it MTV Roadies, Big
Boss, Aja Nachelle, Jodi No. 1 or Super
Singer, all you get to watch is partici-
pants swearing, their relatives crying and
opponents complaining about each other.
The episodes hardly carry anything to in-
troduce the audience to the real cinema
and television. As a matter of fact, the
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Reality shows have de-
graded the audience and
downplayed their taste.
Scripted realities do noth-
ing to improve their knowl-
edge and reasoning
audiences have become immune to such
shows. There are many who complain
about the vulgarity of these shows, yet
continue to watch them with very little
qualms of conscience. The constructed
realities in these shows give better work
for the tear glands than what the serials
had been giving.
What has happened to our television in-
dustry? Even the twenty-four hour news
channels run a poll on who the winner of
the reality dance-show will be. What is it
that our television professionals lack? Is
it social awareness or responsibility to-
wards the society?
Media are to be used for information,
education and entertainment. Today,
entertainment takes the pride of place
in media. All we can request a media
professional is, not to take the audience
for fools. Just because the TRPs show
growth, it does not mean that people en-
joy what is shown. It’s high time that the
channels recognised the true reality.
Manolakshmi Pandiarajan


I
s there such a thing as feminist thea-
tre? Does it mean plays directed by
women? Or does it mean plays that
have feminist themes? These were
some of the questions posed by
playwright and director A. Mangai, in her
lecture at the National Folklore Support
Centre, Chennai.
Defining
She started by giving the audience an
overview of the history of Indian theatre,
and then went on to say that it was only
Feminism
in the 1980s that a noticeable trend
emerged in Indian theatre. The woman
was no longer treated as an object of
observation, but as the subject in plays.
The reason is that around this time a
The woman is expected number of legislations were passed, like
to excel & be a super the Anti-Dowry Act, for example.
Also of importance was the amendment
woman, says director to the rape law, where the onus of proving
Mangai. innocence was now on the man.
Mangai mentioned Anuradha Kapur’s
play, ‘Om Swaha,’ in the context of dowry.
Anuradha would perform her play before
a house where there had been a dowry
death, thereby making it difficult for the
police to turn a blind eye to the crime. The
play was performed 300 times.
A perceptible shift in the focus of plays
on gender issues took place a little later.
The woman was no longer seen from the
perspective of victimisation, but now the
The woman was focus was on how she coped with it.
no longer treated Powerful characters
as an object of Mangai herself is cautious when it comes
observation, but as to portraying powerful women characters.
For instance, in her play, ‘Chuvadugal,’
the subject in plays. she carefully desists from portraying
Maniamma as a heroic figure. That would
only have led to a statue being erected
for her on the Marina, Mangai says.
Chuvadugal, written by Rajam Krishnan,
is a true story. Maniamma, a Brahmin,
was widowed at the age of nine. In an
age when widows were considered
inauspicious, Maniamma cropped her hair
in the style of a man, and rode a bicycle.
She questioned everything that came
her way.
Mangai calls her play a docu-drama. When
she staged the play in Nagapattinam, an
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Media Scan
old woman in the audience said, “I’ve
been on the bicycle with Maniamma!”
Mangai says, “Saying that one or another
male bastion has been breached by a
woman is to obscure feminist issues.”
She has no use for such tokenisms.
It’s like saying, ‘Take any field, there are
women who excel in it.’ The presence
of women in a field is hardly proof that
questions of gender have been addressed.
Too simplistic, argues Mangai.
Besides, this puts a big burden on the
woman. She has to excel in some field, be
artistically inclined, be an excellent wife,
and a good mother. In other words, she is
expected to be a superwoman, she says.
This writer later caught up with Mangai
for answers to some questions. Mangai
says women look at women’s issues
from a different perspective vis-a-vis
male directors. Take rape for example.
You can look at a rape from two angles.
You can show the gloating male, or the
traumatised woman. Invariably it is the
gloating male who is shown by men
directors. Since 1986, she has done
plays on female infanticide and female
foeticide.
Mangai points out that iconic figures are
often interpreted in ‘status quo’ terms.
Mangai has revisited mythological and
historical characters. She says the filmi
version of ‘Avvaiyaar’ makes Avvai didactic
from the word ‘go’.
In the play written by Inquilab and directed
by Mangai, Avvai is a young, sensuous
woman who lives life on her own terms.
In ‘Manimekalai,’ also directed by Mangai,
Manimekalai’s dilemmas are shown.
In Mangai’s play ‘Kaala Kanavu,’ you
have many voices from the past talking
about the choices women made in the
public domain and in their personal lives,
their ideas on marriage, caste, sexual
love, contraception, male chauvinism, the
devadasi system.
It is a loosely structured history of feminism
in Tamil Nadu from the mid 19th to the mid
20th century.
Suganthy Krishnamachari
Courtesy: The Hindu.

 Media Scan

T
he society has shifted from the
traditional way of sympathizing
“CHAINED PAST INTO with the downtrodden people to
a new path of empathizing with
AN EMPOWERED the people who are suppressed
in every aspect. The proof for this change
FUTURE” is the Agaram foundation. It was founded
to form an alternative society rather than
to mourn on the present day evils.

Agaram The trustees are none other than film

actors Suriya and Vijay, T.J. Gnanavel
and Prakash Babu. They have a view
that the foundation’s efforts to bring
but when it’s helpful for the individual’s
education it benefits the whole family”.
Agaram foundation is committed to

Foundation
about a change in the society is not a
mere service but a big responsibility of
the foundation. This foundation aims to
execute well planned activities, which
will give a long term solution rather than
a temporary one.
As a prime means of helping society
at large, Agaram has come forward to
Agaram foundation present “Herovaa Zerovaa,” a short film
is committed to to spread awareness on school dropouts.
The common idea that the government
discharge its duties will handle everything and we have no
to people who
role to play, will only ruin the society,
have been denied said the founders expressing their basic
belief in social work. The motivation
basic and quality and encouragement of Mr.Thangam
education. Thennarasu, Minister of School Education
to bring back the school dropouts has
prompted Agaram to make this film.
Going by a statistical report, they had
found out that the main reason for
the dropouts are child labour, lack of
women education, ignorance of parents
and disinterest among kids. So this film
emphasises on these factors and on
the whole encourage to students take
education seriously.
The chairman of the foundation Mr. Suriya
said that, “Education has the power
to make a human civilized and face the
challenges of life. Education can destroy
the poverty of an individual, suppress
religion and caste division that prevails
in the society and could be an important
factor that can change the life of the
next generation.
Help extended in any other form to an
individual benefits only that individual
ed matrix july 2008
discharge its duties to people who have
been denied basic and quality education.
Their objective is to form an educational
institution in the future for the students
who are below poverty line and are
marginalized. Their aim is to train youth
with every skill, which is needed to become
an empowered people in the society.
They also have a future plan of training
girls and boys, to get through the
examination, which is the entry for the
government jobs, to have collaboration
with the government schools to elevate
the standard of the education in the
government schools and to create
awareness about the importance of
sports among students. This foundation
has planned to join hands with the social
service organisations which are ready to
help the students in education and to give
a helping hand for the downtrodden.
For the education of the students the
foundation has allocated Rs.25 lakhs.
Schools near Chennai which are run by
the government for the Adi –Dravida
students will be the main beneficiaries.
Thus they hope that through their training
programes for English and personality
development programes at least hundred
students will benefit.
This foundation is to be appreciated for its
vision in training the oppressed and poor
students to emerge as skilled personalities
in the society. They strongly believe that
this step will change the society from a
“CHAINED PAST INTO AN EMPOWERED
FUTURE.”
Talitha


Let’s March
to Teach
Teach India is a nation-
building initiative (or
social initiative) from the
Times of India that brings
together children in need
of education and people
who can contribute
a little time towards
teaching them.
W
hat if today was the last
day for you to change the
destiny of our nation?
The Teach India Initiative
started as an idea with
committed individuals who were always
keen on doing something for the society
and came forward to become the catalyst
of social change.
Nothing however ,could prepare us for
the breathless response that actually
greeted our call . Doctors and lawyers,
business and housewives, in fact even
students and retired people trooped in to
become teachers. All we can muster in
response to this extraordinary outpouring
of sincerity is simple, heartfelt thanks.
As for those equally dedicated individuals
still trying to make up their minds on
those two hours every week, the Teach
India team says the time is now. And
there isn’t a moment to waste. Because
today is the last and final chance to make
a difference to someone’s life and as a
result of that, your own.
Sixty of India’s committed NGOs, schools
and other social organization have
already pledged their support to the
Teach India movement and it is counting
on the participation people who can teach
willingly. If you are truly possessed by a
desire to get involved you can register
and begin teaching. To register, just
log on to www.teach.timesofindia.com
to discover how two hours a week can
make the difference to a child’s life.
WE’VE JUST IDENTIFIED THE PERFECT
SOLUTION TO ILLITERACY. : YOU’
Teach India is a nation-building initiative
(or social initiative) from the Times of
India that brings together children in
need of education and people who can
contribute a little time towards teaching
them. It is based on one simple principle:
If you have the desire to teach, we will put
you in touch with underprivileged children
who are willing to learn. With over sixty
of India’s committed NGOs, corporate,
schools and social organizations already
supporting our cause, we now look for
selfless individuals to come forward and
help change the future of a child forever,
by giving just a few hours a week to
Teach India
How do I apply?
As part of the Teach India movement,
The Times of India has established
partnerships with several NGOs in
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
Anyone interested in participating can
visit the Teach India website at www.
teach.timesofindia.com and join us.
Alternatively you can also fill out the
Volunteer Registration form submit it to
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Media Scan
The Times of India office in your city. To
receive the form on email, SMS TEACH
to 58888.
How does Teach India work?
As soon as your completed form reaches
the Teach India office, you will receive
a confirmation message. You will then
be mapped to one of our NGOs based
on your area preference and time
commitment, and asked to contact a
NGO coordinator assigned to you and
meet him/her. Once selected, you will be
placed in one of the programmes, and
after a basic orientation, your teaching
sessions will begin.
What kind of education will I be
providing?
Teach India aims to help undereducated
children through a variety of programmes,
including basic education, support
classes and even story-telling. These
are all very easy to teach programmes
in which simple topics have to be taught
to children mostly at primary school level
the teaching would be one-on-one or
to small groups of children. The type of
programme a volunteer is assigned to,
will be decided after assessment by the
NGO, keeping your location and time
preference in mind.
How long will my teaching
commitment last?
Teach India is looking for volunteers who
can participate in the programme for 3
months. If you wish to continue teaching,
the same may be made possible by
the NGO you are working with through
mutual discussion.
Many corporates, schools and colleges
have already agreed to join the Teach
India movement, and many volunteers
from these institutions have expressed
their intent to volunteer for Teach India,
but still the team is looking for people like
you to come forward, in your individual
capacity or as part of a partnering
corporate, school, college or any other
institution or organization. You can opt
to teach according to your convenience
and satisfaction.
Kalpana. E