Truth and Dare - Sach Ka Saamna

Truth and dare

Monday to Fridays, 10.20 pm, Life OK

Host: Rajeev Khandelwal

Rating:***

Sach Ka Saamna offers a mirror to the deteriorating moral and social fibre of our country and the values we prideourselves on. As the host, Rajeev Khandelwal has an unobtrusive way of talking to the contestants through the show

Rajeev Khandelwal is back to making others wash their dirty linen on national television. Truth is stranger than fiction they say and the contestants who appear on Sach Ka Saamna confess to a life of lies and deceit. This season is inspired by Anna Hazare, as the makers have taken upon themselves to fight against corruption. So you have contestants pledging to say the truth and come clean on all that they have done wrong.

At the time of writing, we saw two contestants — one, a lawyer-activist-small-time-politician from Hasanpur and another, an insurance agent — digging their grave as they answered questions ranging from petty misbehaviour (hiding girlfriends in hostel room) to being seriously involved in forgery, theft, scams etc. The insurance agent had an illegitimate affair and had even sired a child outside marriage.

As for the game, contestants have to answer 21 questions with the polygraph machine recording their answers. The prize money is ' 1 crore that has been split into three phases. Clearing the first and second phases assures them of taking home a minimum of '2 lakh and '10 lakh respectively. The game is over when the polygraph contradicts the contestants' replies.

While we are not sure, how the show helps the country to get rid of corruption, it's money that makes them spill the beans. We wonder how many of them would happily sit on national television and bare their secrets if there was no booty to win! We are not sure if these paragons of truth will go back to leading 'clean' lives once the camera switches off!

However, Sach Ka Saamna offers a mirror to the deteriorating moral and social fibre of our country and the values we pride ourselves on. As for the contestants, they justify all their misdeeds and blame it on the circumstances. Rajeev Khandelwal as the host is not only good looking and easy on the eye, but he also has an unobtrusive way of talking to the contestants through the show. He asks them pointed questions, demands some serious explanations and doesn't judge them even once. He's definitely one big reason you come back to the show every night and of course, end up asking yourself some unsettling questions.

Verdict: Engaging, disturbing stuff… somebody's lies is somebody's entertainment.