For most of us, it was Rendezvous With Simi Garewal that spearheaded the movement in the 90s to bring out the other side of Bollywood stars. The chat show, that encouraged stars to share their intimate details, started a cult of sorts, and soon enough, we had Karan Johar take the movement forward with Koffee With Karan. Farah Khan stepped in for a while in the middle with Tere Mere Beech Mein. This year saw Simi resurface with India’s Most Desirable and now it’s Preity Zinta, who will soon be seen chatting up with her “industry friends” in her television debut Up Close and Personal With PZ. With the ever-increasing number of such shows, the exclusivity of stars seems to have taken a nosedive. But for the common viewer, can there be a thing such as too much Bollywood?
Bollywood historian S.M.M. Ausaja lays the maximum onus on the host of the show. “It depends on how well the host is prepared. For instance, Karan knew exactly what the audience expected from his show, and that’s why he was so popular. As far as the attention span of audiences is concerned, they will stay hooked if they get the right kind of masala.”
Actress Pooja Bedi feels that fans would always want to hear from the stars themselves about how they live their lives. “Most of the time, people are confused about things shown in the media, so they prefer to hear it from the horse’s mouth through such shows. However, chat shows these days are just fluff, so the host has to think creatively to make the show different,” says Pooja, who used to host a celeb chat show titled Just Pooja, which addressed burning issues.
But if an industry insider is to be believed, then such shows are not as impromptu as they are made out to be. “Making an appearance alongside Simi or Karan is more a matter of obligation for many. Stars don’t want to turn down such big and powerful names. But over the years, the obligation itself has become an in-thing. Given a choice, stars wouldn’t want to talk about their brawls and affections or admit to their insecurities on a public platform,” says the source.