The entertainment world of today is dominated by reality TV and it was high time that Pakistani TV joined the bandwagon. We have seen a few attempts at different types of reality TV shows in the past but none of them were able to survive because they seemed like halfhearted attempts. This is where Tamasha differed from them and truly stole the show.

The magnitude of the show was nothing short of phenomenal, as it is truly an achievement to develop a world class set with so many high quality cameras, a team that is monitoring the feed 24/7 and editing all that into 1 hour episode each containing the juiciest moments of the day. And for those who have seen the show, they know there were many such moments! The effort that has gone into making this show is commendable.

Many people have been comparing ARY’s Tamasha with India’s Big Boss but one of the reasons why the masses really enjoyed Tamasha is because of how different it is from Big Boss. It is an unfair comparison for many reasons; First and foremost, there are countless international shows developed on the same format and each one has its own flavor. ARY team deserves all the accolades, for keeping it authentically Pakistani. The show had clear boundaries which respected our culture and values. Male and female contestants were not allowed to have any type of physical contact or enter the other gender’s bedroom, a rule which played a huge part in keeping the show classy and family oriented. There were also strict rules about abusive language and physical violence, the latter being the main reason for eviction of two very strong contestants.

Another thing which makes the show very different from its Indian counterpart is the fact that the host of the show Adnan Siddiqi was also housed inside the show, and even though he had his own private quarters he was a constant presence in the show. He would come visit them each day, supervise tasks, help sort out fights, and also spent a relaxing time with them while eating & cooking together, which created a very positive vibe. The contestants were not completely isolated from the outside world either. They were taken out for small excursions and that was a very positive step by the showrunners, as this is important for mental health. Some fans were not very happy about this as they felt it broke the momentum, but most people appreciated it as this helped to relieve some stress of the contestants and helped keep the environment of the house from becoming toxic. When people are locked up inside for too long, things are bound to get stressful and fights break out even among the most passive people. While this would help with sensational content on the show, it was a sensible move of the showrunners to not rely on cheap theatrics and keep the vibe of the show positive.

The visitors were also a welcome break from every day life, as they provided a new flavor to the audience and the contestants alike. The guests also gave some insights to the contestants about how the show is being received outside and it was clearly a morale booster for most of them. We got to see megastars like Wasim Akram and Fahad Mustafa along with many other celebrities who helped break the monotony and made the show even more entertaining.

Overall, Tamasha is a great effort from ARY team, kudos to them for pulling off something of this magnitude with so much grace and elegance. Of course there is always room for improvement and it was evident that as the show progressed, the showrunners were taking in public feedback and improving the quality of the show as the storytelling aspect improved with the editing with each passing day. Public anticipation and hopes are really high for Tamasha Season 2 and we are looking forward to a better, more improved version of the show with another star studded cast.