What it takes to swim with the sharks

Personally, I’ve never been much of a reality TV buff; the judges on dance shows and singing competitions seem unnecessarily caustic and make me cringe. Watching people suffer in movies is vastly different to watching contestants fall apart for real. For a while I watched MasterChef Australia where the judges aren’t so mean. Besides, the pulse quickens listening to their exquisite descriptions of flavours and vast, gastronomic wisdom. But put on Big Boss or Indian Matchmaking and one is faced with the sickening realisation that the world is unavoidably rife with jerks.

It’s a worrying indictment of humanity that so many get perverse thrills seeing a shattered, wannabe, teenage pop star weep, after being compared to a shrieking whistle of a train (it’s happened innumerable times on American Idol and Indian Idol). That other people’s humiliations can be weirdly mesmerising is the pillar on which all reality TV stands; perhaps it stems from the primal belief that there are important lessons to be learned from adversity.

In this cluttered television landscape, the newest entrant Shark Tank India is shining bright. Parrot Analytics, a TRP tracking firm, has found that the audience demand for it is 18.5 times higher than for any other show. The premise is sound: to give budding entrepreneurs an audience with established investors, who, if they like a business plan, kickstart a bidding war for a stake in the company. Shark Tank India taps into an all-pervasive obsession with money. In a country where 65% of the population is below the age of 35, hungry with ambition and frustrated by a lack of opportunity, this show allows one to vicariously dream. After all, what is more seductive than hope? The success of STI also points to a certain restlessness and impatience with the old ways.

Bruised, battered and historically insecure, the Indian middle class attitude to careers has always been to play it safe. The message we imbibe is that we should recognise ourselves as limited and be grateful for whatever comes our way. Far from celebrating risk takers, the small Indian entrepreneur is viewed suspiciously, as if his deviant choice makes him unreliable. Along comes Shark Tank that makes the preposterous suggestion that anything is possible. The show portrays entrepreneurship positively, cheering on a manufacturer of eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes and buying into a small brand making frozen momos. In a country that has always stifled creativity in favour of guaranteed employment, maybe, just maybe, STI could embolden a few.

Watching all these participants, I find myself wishing their deals come through; you feel a connection with somebody baring their truth and seeking help on a public platform. It’s true for everyone that nothing major can change professionally without subjecting oneself to an uncomfortable amount of risk. Still, crossing the aisle of discomfort takes real courage. Shark Tank India is welcome propaganda for risk; for this one hour at least, you may indulge in the flight of imagination that all young Indians need is a mentor to believe in them.

(The writer is director, Hutkay Films)