Actor and VJ Rannvijay Singha tells Chahak Mittal about the mantra that has kept MTV Splitsvilla intact among the Indian youth for 12 years
While the youth’s attention and interest has been increasingly shifting towards content-driven web shows and films online, some TV shows and channels continue to be cult even today. One such is MTV Splitsvilla. The show, which is in its 12th year, still commands a huge following among Indian teenagers. The cult following is evident from the lengths that they go to be eligible to take part in it.
A show on dating is naturally bound to have some pick-up lines and over the years it has seen some wondrous ones. ‘I am a charmer.’ ‘My style is enough to make the first impression my best one.’ ‘I can fake emotions like no one else.’ ‘I can easily judge which girl would be better for me.’ ‘Not just anyone is meant for me. I deserve the best.’ And many more, the list is endless.
Since it is all set for its 12th season, we ask actor and show host Rannvijay Singha what is it about the show that keeps drawing the youth back year after year? He laughs and points out that the “amount and the variety of emotions” one finds here are immense. He says, “In a way, it’s a social experiment where one can find his/her ideal matches. And this was a first-of-its-kind and practically unseen show for the Indian audience. They hadn’t imagined that love and relationships could have also been looked at in this manner — on national TV. Our country has never been too liberal about love and two strangers dating openly. But this show gave them this space.”
He adds that another factor for the show’s popularity was relatability. “The stories of contestants, their relationship and emotional problems find a resonance with the audience so that they connect with the show easily. It allows them space to explore their own side and definition of love. Also, we have constantly been updating and evolving the show’s elements with each season in keeping with the changing scenario. It’s not the same today as it was 12 years ago and the attempt is to make it more relatable with each passing generation,” he says.
Taking us back to what dating and relationships meant during earlier times, he says that the difference between old school dating and modern relationships has been kept in mind while creating this season. He says, “Earlier, it was mostly about two people who met accidently, learnt new things about each other after meeting, found our their likes and dislikes and as a result connected and fell in love. Today, however, the process has changed. A person already knows the likes and dislikes of the other even before meeting through social media. If you like someone on a dating app, you can easily know more about their personal interests by reading up their bios. It gives you the option of exploring several people at once and deciding whether they would be compatible with you or not. Instagram helps you to learn more about their past experiences. You will know a lot about the person through social media before encountering them in real life.”
For the show, this time they have blended both modern and traditional elements. “In this season, we are making it seem like what happens in the current time. For example, this time, the girl wouldn’t be allowed to meet or see the guy initially. We would describe him through pictures and captions before making the duo meet and then let them decide whom they want to connect with. A lot of things with a contemporary resonance have been put in. And they would meet each other too in the same way as old school romance, which stays evergreen, to learn more about each other through different ways and tasks, of course. So, it’s a mixture of both,” says Rannvijay.
Oracle, an entity which studies the influence of science over love and announces the ideal matches, was a part of the initial seasons makes a comeback this time around. It creates pairs consisting of a girl and a boy possessing similar emotional and psychological characteristics. These are decided on the basis of the personal details and answers given by contestants during the auditions. “However, it’s not always mandatory or possible that all the contestants do find a match at the end as it also depends on how well two people connect with each other. Oracle can only help in making matches but only the person can find a partner with whom he/she will vibe. Eventually, the matches depend upon that only, right?” says he.
Talking about his take on modern love and relationships, he says, “I believe love remains the same, only its expression changes with time. The way our parents (from the 80s) had expressed love to each other was very different from the manner it was done in 2000s. And now, it’s a class apart in 2019. I remember my friends hiding from their families and calling their beloveds on landlines which were common for everyone. Today, there are dating apps and personal cellphones to communicate. But this hasn’t really changed the idea of love but its way of expression.”
(The show is set to release on August 16.)
