We all have been Boogie Woogie fans sometimes in our lives, haven’t we? It was one of the first few dance reality shows in India. Boogie Woogie started airing in the mid-90s, a time when in India television was still in its nascent stages. However, it attracted audiences from all walks of life as the show appreciated talents of all. Not to state the obvious but the show became an instant hit among the audience. The judges of this dance show were Jaaved Jaaferi, Naved Jafri and Ravi Behl. Recently, in a chat with The Indian Express, Jaaved opened up about his journey with Boogie Woogie and even expressed his views on the reality shows that air nowadays.
Boogie Woogie was like a breath of fresh air for the audience back then, but today, the concept of reality shows has become overused, said Jaaved. There are a number of singing and dancing reality shows that run in parallel. Though these reality shows work as a platform for people to showcase their talent, they have often been trolled to mount on the sob stories of their contestants.
Jaaved said that reality shows have pros and cons, the biggest pro according to him is that the talent is getting an opportunity, while the cons are that “sometimes these shows become too contrived.” The actor opined that nowadays reality shows “don’t feel real” as all of them look the same. Commenting on the sob stories which are excessively highlighted on the shows, he said, “It looks fake.”
Talking about what made Boogie Woogie stand out, Jaaved said it was the fact that everything on the show “was organic, real, from the heart and not scripted.”Back then, the actor stated people used to share their stories and they did pay attention to it but back in their minds, they knew it was a platform to showcase talent.” So, just sob stories never became the only way to go about it. It was about talent. It was about hope, ‘conquering disability’ it was not a setup,” he added.
Boogie Woogie aired on television from around 1996 to 2014.
