Our 1997 cover on TV's then new stars

I do not watch the popular TV show Fame Gurukul but there was no way I could have escaped it. Everyone in my household watches it and long before I kept hearing, "How cute is Qazi?" I decided to check it out, and was hooked like millions of others. I could see that the show had all the elements which make for successful television-voyeurism, drama, competition, suspense, heartbreaks, joy and, above all, the transformation of ordinary people into stars by the viewers themselves through their phone calls. This is interactive TV, Indian style.

Five years after Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) changed the fortunes of Star TV in India by making greed good, interactive shows are making the audience part of the process, empowering them as never before. Whether it is by voting or contesting, audiences now have an opportunity to either choose their star or become one themselves. There are even auditions on phone. In every which way, telecom operators and broadcasters have discovered a new pot of gold. Nach Baliye, a dance show on Star One, has made fierce competitors out of celebrity couples. KBC2 on Star Plus has Amitabh Bachchan giving away Rs 6.6 crore in 31 episodes, compared with Rs 25 crore given in 305 episodes in its first innings. Fame Gurukul on Sony has received five crore calls and SMSes in its 16 week run. Sahara One, Zee TV, MTV, even Channel V, everyone wants to either make the common man a star or just give him a big enough prize to feel like one. Viewers are enduring rude jokes (anyone who has watched Super Sale on Star One will agree), silly questions (Dial One Aur Jeeto on Sahara One) and nerves (when facing Bachchan on KBC 2) to take home big money.

But it's not only about gratification. Viewers are spending money, calling from landlines and cell phones or just SMSing to choose their favourite idol/fame jodi/dance couple. This week's cover story examines this phenomenon, tracking down Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant, KBC 2 contestant Barsha Baishali from Rourkela, and the Great Indian Laughter Challenge champion Sunil Pal, who worked in a Mumbai tea shop for two years. My favourite makeover story is of Ravinder Ravi, a house painter from Ludhiana who didn't even win the Indian Idol contest last year, but has now became a much-sought-after name in the business of stage shows. He is flying to Dubai next month for his first international show and just a year ago, he had never even been on a plane. It is a good news story that is hard to resist. As Special Correspondent Geetika Sasan Bhandari, who reported most of the story from Mumbai, puts it, "This is a new breed of youth icons that everyone can relate to, cutting across age and class barriers."

Hey! Over-feted cricketers and hotshot film stars, move over. There are new celebrities on the block.

Index