It's Destroying Them Emotionally & Their Purity: Shoojit Sircar On Kids Reality Shows

Until recently, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar never had the chance to sit and watch a talent reality show with child participants. When he did watch a couple of them, along with his daughter, he got a big shock. With just one tweet, Sircar has started a debate on how correct is it for children to participate in such reality shows.

On Tuesday, Shoojit tweeted: “Humble request to authorities to urgently ban all reality shows involving children.it’s actually destroying them emotionally & their purity.”

He tells us, “I’ve seen only a few of them and I have daughters who watch these shows on a regular basis. I thought, with the way these kids go and compete, just to please those so-called intellectual [judges], they end up losing their innocence. There is so much anxiety in them, their faces fall when waiting for a judgement.”

Shoojit believes that the child contestants may be treated properly by the show organisers, but the content they are made to present is appalling. “First and foremost, it’s the fault of the parents, who can’t decide if it’s right or wrong to send their kids to such reality shows. There’s no limit to this insanity, insensitivity, and inhuman approach. It’s not always [about] the way the show-makers treat a child, but also about the content that’s being shown. The way you talk and joke creates an environment, and that matters a lot. You’re making fun of a [young] boy or girl, you are body-shaming them, and then putting the kids out to get scrutinised,” says a vehement Shoojit.

The filmmaker, who has directed films such as Vicky Donor (2012) and Madras Cafe (2013), is also unhappy with his Bollywood colleagues who judge these shows. “At times, I feel ashamed of my friends from the fraternity, who call themselves big choreographers, big producers and big actors — they call themselves artists. How can an artist do this kind of [a] show for money, where they say that they’re nurturing talent?” The psychological pressures created by these shows and the way the contestants are judged can have a destructive effect, the filmmaker believes.

Channel representatives and celebrity judges remained unavailable for a comment.