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MUMBAI: Vanita Ratnam, Amrita TV‘s signature programme for mothers has inked its name into the history books as it signed in, into its 4th successive season on July 19th at 7.30pm.
Telecast Monday through Friday at 7.30 pm, this fourth generation show that established the very concept of a reality show exclusively for women is cast in a new mould so that it very complexion is altered.
In contrast to its prequels, Vanita Ratnam-4 does not insist on motherhood as a criteria for eligibility; however participants must be married to qualify.
The earlier 3 editions which tried to seek out the Complete Woman were in the nature of a talent hunt that brought into the limelight ordinary housewives who were chained to the hearth but were blessed with loads of artistic and other abilities.
Vanita Ratnam -4 on the other hand is conceived as a thorough exploration of the contestant‘s personality which examines, analyses and assess each feature that make up their disposition.
Every person is a blend of many traits that together combine to give the individual his ‘character‘. Only a few characteristics present themselves in everyday life ; others lie dormant and unrealized until they face unexpected predicaments, crunch situations and pressing contingencies.
Vanita Ratnam-4 plunges the contestants into the depths of their own personality, uncovering their hidden potential, unknown capabilities and unsuspected strengths.
The rounds are carefully oriented to help in the unveiling of their latent caliber- less than half the rounds take place onstage on the studio floors, the rest are shot exclusively outdoors. The performance in the rounds, the contestant‘s equation with each other and interaction with the anchor and judges will all be assessed on a continuous basis.
In the ‘treasure hunt round‘, the competitors have to crack the ‘poetic‘ puzzles to arrive at the clue that leads to the treasure; the puzzles themselves may be hidden atop a tree, inside a boatman‘s pocket or in a washerwoman‘s bundle. This team round is a testing ground that may bring out the leadership qualities of some, show up the courage of others or allow their level headedness to come through.
The ‘mother within you round‘ lets the contestant--who may not be a mother- loose into a roomful of young children of assorted ages and in a situation that is a litmus test of patience and ingenuity, evaluates how she manages to cope with all the kids at the same time.
The 16 selected competitors seem capable of measuring up to the challenges of the new version of Vanita Ratnam- they include an MS engineer from the US who gave up her plum assignment to participate in Vanita Ratnam-4; a graphic designer who is an ace dancer ; a 4th standard drop out whose main hobbies are trying out new recipes and then consuming the results of her own ‘culinary‘ experiments.
Murali Menon and cine star Kalpana who will do the honours as permanent jury on the Judges Panel, will be joined in each round by an expert on the subject- in the Sherlock Homes round where the contestant has to deduce the subject‘s character from mere observation, the participants will be assessed by a leading female private detective.
Vanita Ratnam-4 is an exhaustive journey of self discovery in which the contestants encounter many personality traits that they themselves were unaware of so that, by the end of the programme they arrive at complete self-realisation.
