By Hindustan Times
The drama gets bigger; the ages, small. The impending season six of reality show Bigg Boss is probably going to look children and youths be a part of the bickering in the home. The reports have sparked a debate on if it is ok to involve children in a show that may be high on glamour, theatrics and politics, and requires confinement for months in a home with strangers. Ex-inmates say it’s a nasty idea.
“I don’t think it’s a good suggestion in any respect. The aim of the show is to place the housemates under such extreme physical, mental, emotional stress that they crumble, thus providing drama and content. I don’t think it’s correct to place a kid through this,” says actor Ashmit Patel, who was an inmate in season 4. Afghan beauty Vida Samadzai, an inmate within the show’s fifth season, says, “I wouldn’t want fragile teens or innocent children to join this war zone.”
Psychiatrists don’t give it the fairway signal either. “I wouldn't recommend children to join this type of show. Confinement of any kind adversely affects a child’s intellectual pursuits. And that i think the channel cannot attempt to encash the vulnerability of youngsters for TRPs,” says Dr Jitendra Nagpal. “Kids are impressionable, and it’s not a good suggestion to show them to such a lot stress,” says Dr Deepak Raheja.
However, some feel that if handled correctly, it should just be good exposure for the youngsters. “Children should be nurtured and loved, so if Bigg Boss promises lots of love and emotional protection to children, then it might be interesting to be told from them,” says singer Raageshwari Loomba, who was part of the fifth season. The host channel, however, refuses to comment. “It is just too early to speak about it,” says a spokesperson for Colors.
