The Great Videshi Tamasha

First of all we must all get the concept of Big Brother clear. Big Brother is a show were the contestants have to avoid elimination and simultaneous eviction from the house, with the viewers deciding who will go when and in the process making every contestant a household name and enabling them to win the big cash prize dangling in the middle.

Now coming to Shilpa Shetty, the bollywood siren, who has been reportedly paid Rs. 3.5 crore for participating in the high tension battlefield which they call the Big Brother house. She was ridiculed , humiliated, abused, was called ‘Paki’ and a ‘dog’, made fun of her cooking talent and was told to ‘fuck off back home’, thus clearly showing racial and Xenophobic colors.


Now this issue has suddenly taken a very emotional turn with the whole world taking notice. 14,500 people have complained to UK media regulator Ofcom about the racist comments against Shilpa Shetty on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’. Even the London Parliament was not spared and the Labour party ministers were questioned in the session, thus becoming the biggest sensational story of all.

But I guess the whole incident is blown out of proportion and a mountain is being made of a molehill. I think the media and we (as common man) have far more important issues to be dealt with.

Whoever has a remote idea of this concept will tell u that the whole show is rigged before hand by the producers and despite its tag of reality TV, it certainly isn’t contestant’s true reality. The contestants are paid to make each others life a living hell (in whatever means they can) and I guess eventually the ratings and the popularity comes from that type of bitching the funny part is that in the end all the members will eventually vacate the house, collect their hefty pay checks and will resume their normal life.

And I seriously don’t understand the outrage in our own backyard as we all know (and if somebody doesn’t they should know) that Ms. Shetty knew before hand the complexities involved in participating in such type of shows and was warned of the consequences she might face and (to be very honest) I was surprised by the fact that what made Shilpa Shetty to sign on this show as a contestant as we all know she has a decent livelihood and is pretty much a household name back home.


I just want to conclude that CBB is not any kind of a racial show and Ms. Shetty in taking the plunge has suddenly become a household name in England and (very unlikely) the face of our nation in this alien country and who knows, if this siren continues to perform in the same way as she is doing now, she may get few Hollywood offers also (not bad Ms. Shetty). And look who is laughing all the way to the bank, it’s the producers, the sponsorers and the contestants (Ms. Shetty included).