MovieChat Forums > Satyamev Jayate (2012) Discussion > Episode 1 - I am not impressed! Are you...

Episode 1 - I am not impressed! Are you?

posted 12 years ago by san-saha
5 replies | jump to latest

To be honest, this is not what I had expected. The trailers and the promos for this show were completely misleading. They showed no hint of what the show really was - a talk show!

Yes, it was well-intentioned. An important topic (female foeticide) sans the "drama" - which is welcome in Indian television. But overall, the show lacked the ingenuity that we have come to expect from an Aamir Khan production.

I hope I don't get attacked for saying this ... but we all know that India has a lot of problems. Female foeticide is terrible, but it is a very complicated issue that is highly linked to things like poverty, un-education, etc. It is not as simple as they made it out to be during the show.

It is like saying, "stealing is bad" and we should all stop. No one supports stealing, yet it happens all the time.

And frankly, I don't buy the fact that female foeticide is not linked to uneducation and poverty. Aamir Khan was trying really hard to prove otherwise.

Sadly, this show is just a Bollywood elite massaging his image by telling us how to live our lives with higher values and morals. Might be great for Indian television, but it should stop pretending to be something that it is not ...

[–] saurabh1312 12 years ago

Statements like "I don't buy the fact that female foeticide is not linked to uneducation and poverty" hold little value in public forums unless you can link sources, reliable statistics or evidence. Aamir made a statement and backed it up with the statistics from reliable sources (he had the people conducting the survey in the show). You may say that statistics are all lies, but that can be said for all the statistical references anywhere (even in academic research papers), yet the world runs on statistics.

No one supports stealing? A lot of people support stealing (corrupt politicians are one example).

You imply that educating the masses about the evils of female foeticide won't stop it (because apparently it's not that simple), but we saw exactly that happening in Nawanshahr. People were shown the problem, and instead of the female ratio decreasing even further, it improved by 71 females per 1000 males over 10 years.

If enough people stand against foeticide, the abortion doctors will find it hard to operate in such hostile climate. If enough people demand that the doctors caught in the sting operation be punished, other doctors will be scared to do it. If one or two family members in each family get convinced with Aamir, they may stop other members from trying to kill the girl child.

Even I did not expect the show to be a talk show. But my misplaced expectations does not make this show a pretentious one. This show doesn't even need to be tailored to my preferences, as long as it is effective in helping the society. It is too early to comment on its effectiveness, but this show already has 630k followers on Facebook after one episode.

To make a change in the society, the people need to stand united. The show is uniting the people to make a singular voice for change. One of the biggest issues with our society is the general apathy that nothing can change and this show directly tries to bring people out of that state. I think it's a brilliant effort by Aamir and I really wish it becomes the most popular show on TV and makes positive changes in our scoiety.

[–] san-saha 12 years ago

I didn't pull that out of the air. Anyone who lived in India in the 80's and 90's knows the truth behind selective abortions. There are 1000's of studies that show a clear link between lack of education, poverty and female foeticide. Aamir Khan's selectively used data from one study to make a point. I guess that's okay, but I don't like blanket generalization.

From the Lancet Journal:
"Mothers with grade 10 or higher education had a significantly lower adjusted sex ratio (683, 610—756) than did illiterate mothers (869, 820—917)."
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(06)67930-0/fulltext

And you mis-used my example: "no one supports stealing". That was a general statement. A few politicians might indulge in stealing, but that does not mean that society supports stealing.

Let me give you another example (its more extravagant). Our society is against murder. No one supports murder. Everyone says murder is bad. Now if some Khan creates a show about murder being bad - will that have an effect on murder rates?

[–] nav_sx 12 years ago

what people listen and how they react after that ca not be same for every one of them.Some of us will just ignore the show being "not new",some of us will like it but can not remember it for a long time,But there will be a long list of people too who might connect with it.
If we can make a difference no matter how small it is our goal is being fulfilled.You said you didn't like the concept of talk show,but if you look deeper,they did a research by reaching out where it was feasible and that takes great effort.They aired this on National Channel which is holding 46%(+11%:DD News) viewership which is bigger then all private channels combined.
It is not just the one dimensional talk show,because it is approaching for solution too not just the discussion of problems and advice in the end.Also don't forget the appreciation of Brave reporters that was also part of the show.
The fact presented by you :

"Mothers with grade 10 or higher education had a significantly lower adjusted sex ratio (683, 610—756) than did illiterate mothers (869, 820—917)."

was indeed correct but that's what they said in the show that although we are getting more education but trailing in humanity.

So in my opinion supported by my reasons which can not be 100% correct or incorrect,but Fuzzy set says be happy even I may be 51% correct.I loved this show.

[–] vinchur-vishal 12 years ago

What do you expect him to make?another reality show with no reality,quiz contest or some vulgar Roadies type of show??I think this show was perfectly executed with facts & figure and with real people.Though I agree that the show is not like as it looks in promo,but it's just the first episode..One thing is sure that this show is not fake since Aamir didn't introduced any family drama... I highly appreciate his work.

[–] interstaller00007 12 years ago

Yes i was.

me ENGLISH fail? Thats UNIMPOSSIBLE