24 April,2011 11:20 AM IST | | SMD Team
MTV Crunch, as the name suggests, works around the principle: how do you survive in a space that gets more and more claustrophobic every day? Strangers live in twos (some rooms have a girl and a guy as partners while others have same-sex roommates) in a confined space, which gets tinier by the day. Contestants have to ditch their possessions one-by-one to make room for themselves. Whoever survives 30 days, wins, based on audience votes.
A great concept that could have made for an interesting show, but it ends up being just another reality show from the MTV stable with the by-now-familiar charactersu00a0-- a flirtatious girl, another who survives on theatricality, a hunk, a small town youngster who can't speak Englishu00a0-- do you care anymore? They are made to dance, act and fight in a bid to make you watch.
You find yourself saying "Oh no, not again!" way too oftenu00a0-- and that's never a good thing. Predictable scenarios unfold in front of youu00a0-- couples kissing, people swearing and girls crying.
Savvy or just plain publicity-hungry contestants start acting out in weird ways to grab the audience's attention because it decides who wins on the basis of the 'most entertaining room'. Sample this: between 3-4 pm, roommates chat with their so-called 'fans'. One such fan asked a couple to kiss, so the girl planted a kiss on her roommate's cheeks. He reacted with "I don't think he meant 'this kind of a kiss'". Later the couple was seen canoodling on the bed, most of it blurred. Applause.
If you're a Bigg Boss fan, this show will let you downu00a0-- and that's saying something, given the quality of the other show. But if you are someone who gets kicks out of watching strange people in distress, this bitchier version may just appeal in your free time.
MTV Crunch airs at 8 pm on MTV India, Monday to Sunday
