The Hindu : National : Shooting `reality' in Goa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

National

National

Shooting `reality' in Goa

By Anil Sastry

BAGA, JAN. 11. While patrons at the Drop Anchor restaurant and bar facing the Baga beach in northern Goa are served by a group of Swedes, television viewers in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries enjoy it as a reality show.

A sign at the entrance to Drop Anchor says, "Customers by entering the restaurant agree to be filmed themselves." The restaurant has a few Swedes carrying television cameras and microphones. This is the venue for "Beach Bar Goa," a reality show that is to be aired on the Swedish TV channel, TV3, over the next three months.

"We love Goa, it is like paradise to us during the winter," says Robert Aschberg, the host from Strix Television AB, Sweden. He said that Strix was the first in the world to produce a reality show. Drop Anchor's Rakesh Mathur is happy to be associated with the show.

It is an interactive programme where viewers and Net surfers can join the action.

More than 25 web cameras in the bar and at the contestants' apartment are online 24 hours a day and viewers have to take decisions affecting the story lines. People can drop by for a beer at the bar, and talk to the contestants.

Twelve contestants will be divided into two teams, and will work in the restaurant, each trying to outwit the other.

Those voted out by the viewers would be sent back and the winner would get half a million Swedish kronor. "Prize money is not the factor. What counts is the fun and enjoyment here in Goa for the participants," Mr. Aschberg said.

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