The Bright Side of Reality-based Crime TV Shows

A perfect mix of suspense, fear and crime, the reality-based crime shows on Indian TV channels have become popular even though some people won’t consider them wholesome entertainment and very unlike the family based serials. Yet their viewership continues to soar. What keeps the viewers hooked to them?

These crime thrillers make you sit up and think that crime in its various forms is at our doorstep. The criminals are hidden amongst us. These shows are highlighting that in many cases there may be members of your family and neighbourhood who wouldn't hesitate to sexually exploit children and women. Another aspect that these shows make you realize is that with the growing incidents of crime in society anybody can be a victim of crime anytime and anywhere.

Reality-based crime shows are based on real-life incidents of crime whose details are drawn from newspaper archives and police records. These shows portray the lurid details of real-life crime in a dramatic way. People can easily relate to them.

Some people are of the opinion that reality-based crime shows can be disturbing and can instil fear in the minds of vulnerable people. They don’t realize that in order to deal with fear, we need to face it first. By watching these shows, people get a view of the reality and get to know the current state of our society where nobody is really safe and secure. Unless we know what is going on around us, we can’t play our role as responsible citizens.

We can imagine what goes through the mind of a criminal while he/she is committing a crime by watching these shows. We get a glimpse of the mental state of criminals. Further, this can help us to tackle real-life situations, when we are faced with them.

Another crucial thing that we get to learn from such shows is about our rights. It’s a shame that some of us are not even aware of our rights and the laws.

A number of reality-based crime TV shows are being telecast in India. Some of the popular ones are Crime Patrol, Gumrah and Savdhaan India. Crime Patrol is being telecast on Sony channel since 2003. Besides focusing on crime, this show also aims to bring about improvement in society. Apart from covering crimes like rape, murder, domestic violence, kidnappings and dowry deaths, this show also covers social issues like child labour and corruption. I really liked watching the dramatisation of some of the recent events in the last few episodes of Crime Patrol. In one of the episodes, they showed how an MBA entrance test education racket was busted at the renowned Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) by the Mumbai Crime Branch. It made me think about the about the validity and reliability of our education system. The episodes based on child labour cases have made me realize that we are responsible for promoting child labour. We don’t think twice before employing child domestic workers to perform our household chores as they are readily available and easy to exploit.

Another show which I follow is Gumrah on Channel [V] which shows teen crime based stories. They focus on issues like drug addiction, cyber crime, rape and murder. One of the episodes dealt with the infamous Lipstick Killer Case, where a sixteen year old girl was gang raped by her close friends. This was a supreme example of betrayal of friendship and trust.

Life Ok’s Savdhaan India is a relatively new show in this genre of TV shows. It has become popular among the audience in a short span of time. It features real-life cases where the victims have fought for justice against crime. The stories are shocking as well as captivating. Besides spreading awareness in society, the show aims to inspire the audience to rise and fight back.

Undoubtedly, these shows portray the current state of our society. They make the viewers not only aware and alert but also help them to face their fears. The message is think twice before you befriend anybody or open your door. Beware! A criminal may be lurking in the shadows.