Controversies on Indian Idol are ‘planned gimmicks’ to boost TRPs for the show, a report on Bollywood Hungama says. A source close to the show was quoted in the report saying that the controversies are self-generated to boost ratings.
“Suddenly you have contestants being pulled up for being not good enough; you have judges pulled up for not being honest enough. These are all planned gimmicks,” the source reportedly told journalist Subhash K. Jha.
The source added, “The platform is open to many interpretations on how contestants should be judged. First there was a judge, singer Amit Kumar claiming he was instructed to say only good things about the contestants. You now have a lyricist (Manoj Muntashir) criticizing Amit Kumar for talking against the show. It’s all a cleanly designed spiral of publicity.”
The report also notes that an alleged spat between Adnan Sami and Armaan Malik on the sets of talent hunt show The Voice was entirely the figment of imagination. The two were not taken into confidence about the publicity stunt.
Adnan Sami told the journalist, “Armaan and I were shooting for the show when the story broke out. We were aghast. And livid. There was never any hostility between us. Armaan respects me too much to even talk loudly in my presence. It didn’t take us long to know where the made-up story came from. We were even told to ‘lie low and not comment’.”
It has been a subject of intense speculation that controversies in reality-shows are manufactured to boost ratings. Even so, the case of Adnan Sami and Armaan Malik is shocking even by such standards.
Recently, Sunidhi Chauhan had issued a statement that she quit Indian Idol as a judge because she was told to praise the contestants. “Not exactly this ki sabko karna hai (that praise all of them) but yes, we all were told (to praise). That was the basic thing. And so, I couldn’t go on. I couldn’t do what they wanted and I had to part ways. Hence, today, I am not judging any reality show,” she said.
Sunidhi Chauhan was a judge during the 5th and 6th season of the show. Recently, Indian Idol was dragged into a controversy after Amit Kumar, the son of legendary singer Kishore Kumar, told TOI in an interview, “I did what I was told. I was told sabko praise karna hai. I was told jo jaisa bhi gaaye usko uplift karna hai because it’s a tribute to Kishore da. I thought it will be a homage to my father. But once there, I just followed what I was asked to do. I had told them to give me portions of the script in advance, but nothing of that sort happened.”
“Next time if they’re paying a homage/tribute to a legend like Kishore Kumar, they shouldn’t do it this way,” he added. Amit Kumar also said that he wanted to stop the episode.
Lyricist Manoj Muntasshir shot back later saying, “If Amit Kumar came out and lashed out at the show, he shouldn’t have agreed to be a part of it in the first place. He took money for being a part of the show and then criticised it. I wouldn’t have done what Amit Kumar did. If I was in his place and not comfortable with the proceedings, I would have told the makers that I don’t want to be a part of the show.”