Real masters

Production house Miditech brings newer dimensions to reality TV

Television audiences have never been as pampered as they are now. Besides being showered with opportunities to win cash prizes and other freebies, reality TV has made even a Pappu paanwallah feel important about himself.

"Knowing that you have the power to influence the outcome of a contest has made reality TV such a hit with Indian audiences," says Niret Alva, president, Miditech, the production house behind raging reality shows like Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul and Nachch Baliye.

The 12-year-old producti on house is involved in a variety of projects, but reality shows remain its focus and its forte. Says Nikhil Alva, the company's director, "Miditech is the only production house that does both MTV and National Geographic. We are present across genres but reality is our priority."

In fact, Miditech claims to have pioneered the concept of reality TV with its show Hospital (when it tracked emergency patients from the moment they were brought in at the AIIMS hospital) for Doordarshan in 2000.

But don't curiosity levels dip after the first few episodes? "On the contrary," says Niret, "the characters start growing on the audience. They start taking sides and get emotionally involved." The voting frenzy bears this out "" Fame Gurukul's Qazi, for instance, has got the highest number of votes that an individual has ever received on Indian television, maintains Niret.

Started in 1993 with an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh by Niret, a qualified journalist from IIMC (Delhi), and Nikhil, a trained pianist and music composer, Miditech may soon touch a triple digit turnover.

While Nikhil is reticent about figures, he does reveal that they have been growing at 100 per cent annually for the last three years. With offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Singapore, besides Delhi, Miditech is looking at three more production centres in Indonesia, China and Chennai by 2006. "We also plan to start operations in the UK and US in the next two years," says Nikhil.

Meanwhile, apart from popular shows like Deal Ya No Deal and Indian Idol, Miditech is working on another reality show for Sony, which it claims will be dramatically different from the rest. In fact, tele vision is fast moving past conventional definitions as most innovative programmes are a combination of reality, structured and studio elements as well as fiction.

For instance, the Indian version of Sesame Street for Cartoon Network, which Miditech has been working on for the last six months, will offer a mix of fiction, reality and animation.

"One has to be very intuitive while doing a reality show. Even people shooting the show don't know the outcome. Like who will break down or who will squeal with joy," says Nikhil. This probably explains why reality shows often capitalise on the sensitive moments of characters to capture eyeballs.

"Nowadays, most people know how to handle themselves on camera. We are often shocked to see how kids know the tricks to connect with the audience "" some are smart, some are cute, some are glib," says Niret.

Clearly, "reality" operates on many different levels.