Impact of Satyamev Jayate

We all knew Aamir Khan’s debut show Satyamev Jayate will be popular but going by its impact and success level, one can’t help but admire this man for all his conviction and genius mind. At a time when every other star is making easy money by doing brainless game shows, Aamir decided to put his foot down to make a show that benefits the society all round. On May 6^th 11am, Aamir much hyped talk show opened to bumper responses.

The show opened to huge rating on May 6^th, dealing with “female feticides” and by the time it ended at 12:30 pm, nation had only 1 topic to discuss, the triumph of Satyamev Jayate. The 2^nd episode dealt with a serious issue of “Child abuse” which was an even bigger hit than the 1^st one. Yesterday Aamir highlighted issue of “Dowry” which opened to bumper responses as well. If one has to attribute one reason for its super success, it has to be the presence of Aamir Khan that has done the trick. It is a known fact that such issues have been prevalent in our countries for the longest time and Satyamev Jayate is not really the 1^st show to raise issues like these. It is because of the presence and mass appeal of Aamir that such social issues are reaching a wider audience. However the show has had its share of controversies too which are baseless hence I would be discussing it here but after a while. Lets us 1^st look at the impact.

• Post the telecast of Satyamev Jayate on May 6; licenses of 64 nursing homes have been cancelled in Bhopal. In Rajasthan government yesterday cancelled licenses of six sonography centers and issued notices to 24 others for their suspected involvement in female feticides cases.
• Aamir recently met the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot with a request to open a fast track court which will deal with female feticides cases. With in 36 hours of his meeting, court as approved of forming a fast track court which will aim at giving justice to people affected in feticides cases.
• Ambika Soni of Congress congratulated Aamir for the show and has promised to help him support in passing the long pending bill on Child abuse in Rajya Sabha. Note we don’t have any law against child sexual exploitation in India and post this show Government is making all possible effort to pass this bill.
• Post 2^nd episode, 100000 calls on was made on Child Sex Abuse helpline number 1098 in just 5 Days. Prior to this not many knew that a helpline like 1098 exists.
• Thanks to yesterday’s episode on Dowry, we came to know that demands for dowry lead to the death of 1 girl every hour in our country. Not only that, every episode of SJM is trending on twitter. Yesterday lacks of people tweeted about the awareness done by Aamir and Pronoy Roy, head of NDTV congratulated him personally for the impact it is generating.
• News channels like Aaj Tak and Star News have started a program on the impact of the show and named it as “Aamir Ka Asar”. The show garnered huge responses on social networking sites, specially twitter where the superstar “trended” big time. Here are some of the tweets that justify the popularity of the show.

“Always wanted something like this on TV. Thank you Aamir for stirring a people that Sundays are ‘lazy’ 4 n ‘others’ problems r not theirs. --ACTRESS DIA MIRZA
I would give full marks to Amir Khan’s TV Prog Satyamev Jayate, very creative, evidence based and emotionally connecting, inspiring! Thanku– kiran BEDI.

Satyamev Jayate, feeling ashamed that d government of this country promotes doctors who r actually Murderers! Jago India! Aamir respect! – Actress SWASTIKA MUKHERJEE
Satyamev Jayate. A show with a heart. – FARHAN AKHTAR

Criticisms:

Any noble cause will have some negative repercussions and SJM is not an exception. The show that is touching people’s lives did meet with few criticisms which are quite baseless hence we thought of justifying it on this platform.

• Low TRP- some news channels reported that Aamir’s show is low on TRP. A show that was viewed b 90 million people cannot have low trp. Time of India compared the show to KBC which is baseless. Unlike KBC, SJM is not a game show, its social issue base show that aims in brining about a change in system. How can one compare a prime time show to a morning slot unusual show like this? You can judge the success of the show by its impact and not by TRP.
• Aamir’s remuneration- if Aamir is being paid 3crore per episode then why is that a problem? Every one has a right to make money and he is no exception. It’s a business proposition where Star Plus is making money so why will Aamir not get his due? He did not make easy money by doing a game show or a dance show like other stars, he is making a social change in India and for that he deserves every bit of his penny. The show was a risky proposition for his status, had it failed it would have ruined his 2 year effort that has gone in the making. He even postponed shoot of his films for the show so if he is getting his due, people should not have a problem with it.
• Boring concept- if you expect it to be a routine entertainment show then its not designed for you. The show has to be viewed with an intention of knowing your country. Think about the stories discussed here, somewhere we are affected by it and it may happen to you too someday. Unless you empathize with the people, you cannot love the show.

Temporary activist- some political party accused him of being a temporary activist who deals with multiple topics but for a brief period. Now this is absolutely baseless. Aamir khan is an entertainer and not an Activist. His job is to entertain people and while doing that if he can touch upon sensitive issues, good for us. But you cannot expect him to be an Anna Hazare who will fight for an issue all his life. We must not tag him with the title of an Activist.

The issues mentioned have been in India for the longest time but post Aamir’s involvement, the awareness is reaching every corner of India and that is sure to bring about a change.  Aamir has once again shown that he is truly ahead of his contemporaries. His name ensures certain level of credibility which is why an old concept of a talk show has found a new meaning all over again. But a show can only bring in awareness but cannot bring about a change. Unless you and I do not make an effort to change ourselves, no movement is possible. Let’s initiate the change process. Satyamev Jayate!

Also Check: 

The first look of Satyamev Jayate by Aamir Khan

Indian TV shows on Youtube

Salary of Television stars

  [Article View] : 4079