TV Review: Sach Ka Saamna - India's Moment of Truth

It looks like India's shibboleths are being rapidly knocked down, and Indian society fast entering uncharted waters. From exposing iconic corporations to moving towards social equality, the roller-coaster ride has just begun.

As if to accelerate this pace, the Hindi version of Moment of Truth (itself based on Colombian original Nada más que la verdad) premiered on Star Plus today with some shock and awe, and more teasers of much emo drama ahead. Produced by Siddhartha Basu's BIG Synergy, Sach Ka Saamna is hosted by Rajeev Khandelwal, who carries off many of Mark Walberg's mannerisms from the American version and adds in some effective desi touches.

The premise of the show is to confront contestants with increasingly personal questions in front of people they are close to, and validate the answers against an earlier polygraph examination. The polygraph never lies, apparently, and no one has answered all 21 questions successfully in any of the 46 global versions of the show. The psychodrama and pathos comes because most of the contestants come across as good, well-meaning people with the same foibles as anyone else, until the camera probes beneath the surface.

Sach Ka Saamna's first contestant, Smita Mathai, a middle-class tutor/wife/mother/daughter, and more, was faced with the greatest test of her life. The questions, leading up to a grand prize of Rs. 1 crore, started off easy, probing on how she felt to have her sister's hand-me-downs and if she had ever gone for bathing without a week. Things got warmer when she admitted her parents had a preference for her brother and his children, and that she felt her mother-in-law was more of a mother to her than her own. This question led to an affirmation of the beauty of her relationship with her mother-in-law, and wet eyes. 

The topic then shifted to her relationship with her husband, a recovering alcoholic. While the initial questions were dark and scary, the answers were not unexpected for someone who shared the hell with an alcoholic. She admitted a constant fear that he would relapse into alcoholism again, and that she had harboured thoughts of killing him. A commercial break built up the tension for the next question, did she stay with her husband only because of their children, before she deflected it in the negative, showing their marriage had weathered many storms and was stronger for the result.

The next question brought a frisson of tension to the room when she admitted she had thought of cheating on her husband, but that she had spoken of this with him. The money shot came when she denied that she would sleep with another man if she knew that her husband would never find out, and the lie detector flagged it as false.

It is immaterial the reasons people choose to enter such shows and put their lives on display. Their choices are their own, and none would stand up to bald scrutiny, whether under the glare of klieg lights, or in the privacy of one's own thoughts. 

Star Plus promises more mayhem in coming episodes, particularly with one featuring Vinod Kambli, which already has the cricketer backtracking on reported clips about his relationship with childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar.

To make the most of the candor, Star Plus would be well-advised to tag team Sach Ka Saamna with a desi Dr. Phil for the healing to begin.