The Voice India: TV Series Review

As with every international show that is adapted for Indian screens, ‘The Voice India’ had a big challenge in front of it since the day it premiered on &TV : How would it alter itself to suit the Indian appetite without losing the international essence of the original? With a format that’s fundamentally different from all singing reality shows till date, this question has been all the more important for this particular show.Going by the fact that on Indian reality TV, judges are subjected to reverence akin to Gods while contestants seem almost perpetually overwhelmed by them, a show where this power balance is drastically shifted, certainly seems a bold experiment. Thankfully, a lot of careful thought appears to have gone behind the execution of ‘The Voice India’. This has resulted in a very successful venture with some very strong salient features going for it.
The Judges:
The judges on the show, Sunidhi Chauhan, Himesh Reshammiya, Mika Singh and Shaan, have brought variety to the panel, in terms of profile and expertise. Their collective experience covers vocals, performance, live shows, production and basically everything in the music business. With a team like this in picture, it was obvious that the auditions turned out to be serious business.
The Auditions:

It became even more of a serious business, because these auditions were blind - the selection was to be done based purely on their instinct about a voice, without looking at the contestants. As creative instincts are rarely wrong, it is no surprise that the talent picked through this phase was of exquisite quality. Highly talented aspiring singers, who were asked to choose from the judges who had pressed the buzzer without looking at them, made four teams under the mentorship of each coach. This audition phase was essentially entertaining because Sunidhi, Mika, Himesh and Shaan were able to create a camaraderie which was accentuated by a very witty rivalry, when it came to wooing the contestants to their respective teams. The lines may have been sometimes scripted but the passion in their eyes when finding a worthy talent was most definitely not.
The Format:
The show went an octave higher in the next phase called the Battle Round, where participants from this selective group were paired amongst each other for a battle of voice. The judges picked a song for the pairs in their teams and groomed them ahead of the round. While it is true that at times it became very difficult for the coaches/judges to pick one and let the other go, the guaranteed winner in this round was the viewer. The charged performances were an ultimate treat to watch. The best from the best collided against each other armed with the weapon of their gift of voice and the audience got the benefit of it all.
READ: Reasons to watch 'The Voice India'
The third phase, the Live Show, went a notch higher and pushed the remaining contestants further. This round was not just about the voice, it was about their personality as well. If you have followed the show judiciously, the striking growth in each participant is hard to miss. From voice control to attitude to wardrobe, the grooming is real. For me that’s where The Voice India’s true success lies: To be able to give something real to everyone who has participated in the show. The ones eliminated have also gone back with some learnings and genuine promises. The coaches seem to have passionately worked at sculpting their finds and with each passing episode, it’s beginning to show more and more.
The EQ: Entertainment Quotient

On the entertainment front, it is delightful how the show relies heavily on music, and not on manufactured drama. The editing is great in terms of keeping the episodes essentially about the stage and nothing else. Yes, there is a background to each contestant and some of them have really poignant stories but these personal stories have been edited intelligently to embellish the performances without overshadowing them. Same goes for anecdotes from the sets. The anchoring by Karan Thacker is succinct while managing to provide good natured humor at regular intervals. By keeping melodrama on the periphery, ‘The Voice’ is gradually beginning to prove itself as a successful experiment in the genre of Indian Reality TV. The telecasts transfer a spirit of celebration to the screen and establish the fact that in this show, there is only one hero: Music. Looking at the genuine hard work and the funnel approach of ‘The Voice India’, it would be proper to say that the winner of the Finale stands to have a great career ahead, which, till date, has been a rarity for music show winners in the country. So let the best man/woman win!
Tulika is a freelancer who contributes TV series reviews to The Times of India - Digital. She can be followed on Twitter @tulikaD and @TVwithDD. Interested in reading more TV series' reviews? Read reviews of 'Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat' and '​Comedy Nights With Kapil'.
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