Call me stupid. But reality TV is fun. At least it used to be. I can trace my obsession back to Band Baajaa Bride (2013–20), which gave little girls like me the dream to be a Sabyasachi bride. Then there were the food-based ones, Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay (2007–2014), and if your stomach couldn’t digest that much yelling then maybe, The Great British Bakeoff (2010–).  

Of course India pioneered the reality TV game with successful talent-based IPs like Indian Idol (2004–), India’s Got Talent (2009–), Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (2006–2024), and such. But these were for family viewing. If you were willing to be a little risqué, you could tune into Bigg Boss (2006–), Splitsvilla (2008–), or Roadies (2003–) (I still ask friends, “Aise banega tu Raodie?” [Is this how you’ll become a Roadie?] when they do something stupid).