'Sob stories are a marketing gimmick' says Sonu Nigam on Indian Idol 12 controversy!

In his latest interview, Sonu Nigam commented on the Indian Idol controversy and explained the reasons that encourage reality shows to broadcast sob stories.

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New Delhi: Singer Sonu Nigam had an interesting take on the Indian Idol controversies in the past few weeks and he delved deeper into it in an interview with a leading daily.

In a conversation with Etimes, he revealed that the reason reality shows are inundated with sob stories is because they work and increase viewership. He called it a 'marketing thing'.

He said, "If they weren’t working (sob stories), it would not be happening so often on reality shows. In the deepest corner of my heart, I feel sob stories are working. It is a marketing thing, and people are not fools. Their hearts are in the right place. I also feel that the contestants in reality shows are extremely talented. They are ‘dhurandhars’. Secondly, the definition of entertainment varies from person to person."

"Recently, I was watching a Korean film and I connected with it because it reminded me of my struggles, but it could be boring for someone else. Who am I to comment on the music reality shows? They are doing well, getting good viewership and the singers are phenomenal," he added.

The reality TV show 'Indian Idol 12' has been shrouded with controversy in the past few weeks as many celebs have criticised it.

Last month, Winner of Indian Idol (season 1) Abhijeet Sawant had slammed the singing reality TV show - Indian Idol 12, in an interview with a leading daily. The singer expressed that the show was based on contestants' sob stories rather than their vocal talents.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, he had said, "These days, the makers are more interested in whether the participant can polish shoes or how poor he is, rather than his talent. You should watch regional reality shows where viewers may not know anything about the background of their favourite contestants. Their focus is only on singing, but in Hindi reality shows, the tragic and sad stories of contestants are shown. The focus is only on that."

A few weeks back, Sunidhi Chauhan, former judge of the 5th and 6th season of the reality show, had also opened up on her qualms with the show. She revealed all the judges were asked to mandatorily praise the contestants regardless of how they really feel about their performance. This format didn't sit well with Chauhan and that's why she chose to stray away from the popular show.

Currently, Indian Idol 12 is hosted by Aditya Narayan. It has been shifted to Daman amid the deadly novel Coronavirus pandemic as the shooting of films and TV shows have been stalled at present. The show is judged by Neha Kakkar and Himesh Reshammiya.