Reality bites. And no one knows better than the parents of 16-year-old Shinjini Sengupta, a class-XI student of Kolkata, who lost her ability to speak and move after she was shown the door in the elimination round of a show on a Bengali TV channel.

Whether she was turned into a vegetable state owing to the alleged uncharitable comments or it was owing to her inherent medical problem, only time can tell. But as she battles for life in Bangalore's NIMHANS Hospital, the reality shows are put to question.

So are the moral decadence of the Indian parents who push hard their children to perform for fame and money. The blank stare of the girl being wheeled into an ambulance refuses to fade away. The media spotlight on Shinjini speaks volumes about the popularity of such shows and the ethical dilemma.

The word reality used for reality shows could be quite a misnomer considering the fact that most of the shows are simulated, stage managed and are not set in natural settings. Almost every TV channel has one such show.

It is then a natural step forward to make the show interesting enough for the viewer to forget his remote for a while. This is where the unreal part of the reality show sets in. The judges of the shows have different takes on each participant.

This results in spats between the judges spicing up the programme. The participants are asked to build up drama by casting aspersions or false allegations against their co-competitors. Personal lives are touched upon to get the viewer involved.

In competition-based programs such as Big Boss, Fear Factor and Roadies, the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment.

In this completely fabricated world producers use carefully designed challenges and settings to encourage drama. Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor, describes his shows as "unscripted drama".

With the coming of the Indian Idol, the path of television changed forever. A remake of the famous British hit, Pop Idol, which has set record in all countries, registered very high ratings in India as well.

"It is a drama that unfolds in front of you, " says Gavin Wood, director of production, India Freemantle Media. He further adds, "The idea should be original and entertaining."

Says Nilanjan Banerjee, director of the Bangla rock show Bandwagon, "Reality shows are as real as can be. For a music based reality show the participation and competition is real. To heighten the drama and to make it more attractive, judges and the anchors are fed certain ideas.

"For the director, there is one proven track. An example would be the constant bickering between music composer Anu Malik and singer Alisha Chinai in the music reality show Indian Idol 2007.

In Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, music director, singer and actor, Himmesh Reshammaiya created the drama and in Voice of India, music director, Lalit and singer Abhijit Bhattacharya were always tearing each other apart. One thing is for sure, that the anchor has a script to follow."

"Indian Idol was a complete reality show: a reality show and a talent show as well! It was a result of a cleverly constructed screenplay, which empowered the audience to select their personal favourites so it clicked, " says Sanjiv Sharma.

Reality television saw an explosion of global popularity starting in the early 2000s with two reality series on American television, Survivor and American Idol, topping the ratings. This gave rise to other shows comprising non-professional actors and a creative production team.

Certain formats seem to do well in India. It is the family oriented shows that seem to hit it off with the audience, like the two seasons of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the music based Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and the dance reality shows Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dhikhla Ja.

The unprecedented success of programmes like Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Idol has generated huge revenues too.

Shailja Kejriwal, executive vice president of content, NDTV Imagine, says, "Reality shows turn out to be nine to 10 times costlier than daily soaps. But it is worth incurring heavy costs on these shows since the returns they earn are almost in the same proportion, turning out to be more profitable ventures than daily soaps."

Since most of the reality shows feature celebrities and the panel of judges also comprises well known personalities, production costs rise. But, says Anupama Mandloi, associate creative director, STAR Plus, "Reality shows only run for a couple of months and allow a channel to recover costs within that short duration itself."

With TV channels raking in the moolah, how long would it take for these innumerable remakes of American reality shows striving to grab eyeballs on Indian television, to fizzle out?

Even though reality driven formats have become a huge draw and are the mainstay of mass programming, Saurabh Kanwar, vice president, content and communication, Channel V feels "the audience will mature and formats will need to reflect the changing demand for entertainment."

In fact, experts opine that with the falling number of SMSs and audience interest, reality shows no more rules the idiot box.

"The viewers have now become more discerning and choosy as the number of reality shows is increasing by the day. With the exception of some programmes, the viewer's interest has declined", says Ashish Paul, V-P, Communication, Essel Group.

However, these facts cannot rule out the obvious- a successful replacement is yet to be found.

Reality television has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, even if for a short while. The success of shows like Sa Re Ga Ma and Indian Idol has brought talented singers to the forefront.

Hence, we have Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala who are big names in the music industry today. The show Cinestar Ki Khoj introduced young talents to the Hindi film world. Roadies, the bikers show, has thrown up models and actors.

Other shows such as Big Brother have made at least temporary celebrities out of their participants like Jane Goody and Bollywood's Shilpa Shetty as has the Indian version Big Boss for lesser known wannabes like Rakhi Sawant.