GAME FOR MORE: (Above) Judges Sharon Van Zwieten, Ravi Shastri and Mandira Bedi at the Dream Job reality show; (Top) Samarth Mungali, one of the three finalists of Simplicity Challenge

Roll over Rakhee Sawant — there is no glitz or glamour or celebrity judges here. The stage is set for yet another reality show — but with a difference.

Participants on this show are dressed in formal office wear and come armed with laptops. The judges are stalwarts in their own fields but have no association with the world of glamour. The winner will be decided purely on the basis of innovativeness and business acumen. CNBC TV 18’s new reality show — the Philips Simplicity Challenge — is all about the search for a potential entrepreneur with a simple business idea.

For the average telly viewer tired of teary-eyed reality shows, here is some respite. After endless music and dance contests, reality programmes on the small screen are now donning an intellectual flavour.

The CNBC show is not the only one. ESPN Star Sports has a reality show called Dream Job which is a hunt for a Generation Next sports presenter for its new channel STAR Cricket.

Even general entertainment channels such as Sony Entertainment Television have introduced reality programmes that are moving away from the Bollywood formula. Sony’s latest show, Champion Chaalbaaz No 1, is about choosing a contestant who can pull off audacious pranks. Modelled on the American show Pranksters, contestants have to use their wit and surprise viewers with their pranks. Star One’s reality show Lead India judges its participants on the basis of their leadership skills.

“This was inevitable. With time, channels had to move beyond the typical song and dance reality shows. Last year when I did a count, television had a dozen such programmes. So channels had to expand into a wider gamut of reality TV,” says media critic Shailaja Bajpai.

The Simplicity Challenge now has three contestants — from the original 19 — vying for the top spot in its final lap. “The biggest difference in this show is that the success of the contestant does not depend on luck or audience votes. Unless you are talented and have the intellectual ability, you will not win. It is a serious competitive show,” says Suresh Venkat, executive producer, CNBC TV 18.

The contest, open to students in the age group of 18 to 30 years, brought forth some of the most innovative and simple inventions ever seen. From a mixture to make earthquake-safe roads to a drowsiness indicator for motorists, the inventions had to be in the field of education, healthy living and the environment. The best idea will receive a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh and an introduction to a venture capitalist, who will help turn the idea into a commercial project.On Champion Chaalbaaz three out of 33 contestants will individually perform a prank per episode, as well as come up with a group prank. “The contestants on this show are not judged on the basis of their looks, costumes, dancing or singing. It is purely based on their ability to make people laugh with their pranks,” says actor and entertainer Sajid Khan, a jury member on Champion Chaalbaaz.

Though experts say that the real television rating points (TRPs) are still with the soaps, reality shows nevertheless bring in much-needed buzz for channels. That explains the sudden spurt of such shows on television. The newly launched INX channel too has started a reality show. The main objective of Mission Ustaad, a celebrity musical reality programme, is to create awareness about the UN Millennium Development Goals (MSGs) across the country. “The singers are judged on their choice of lyrics, which are supposed to send out the message of the millennium goals,” says Indrani Mukherjea, founder and group executive director, INX Media Pvt Ltd. All the profits from the text messages received for Mission Ustaad will be used to spread awareness about the goals — ranging from halving extreme poverty to providing universal primary education and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by the target date of 2015 — in India.

The shows are garnering eyeballs, too, if you go by the widespread response to auditions. The Simplicity Challenge received 8,000 entries, while the Dream Job team had to sift through 30,000 calls, 10,000 Internet entries and over 7000 walk-in interviews. The contestants came from varied backgrounds and age groups. “The huge response to the programme showed that our country has a large number of sports enthusiasts who are keen on leaving their current professions to become sports presenters. On the show we had lawyers, IT professionals, doctors, management graduates and even a housewife from Mumbai,” says Vijay Rajput, chief operating officer, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd.

The target audience for these programmes is the young urban Indian looking for an alternative beyond soaps and Bollywood. Not all of these shows have barred audience votes. Champion Chaalbaaz gives 40 per cent weightage to studio audience votes. On Dream Jobs, one of the two semi-finalists out of the final four contestants will be decided by public voting. The other finalist will be decided by the judges. On Mission Ustaad the audience votes per episode and there are no eliminations.

Some winners of these intellectual reality shows are already reaping the benefits. Arvind Aradhya, 18, the winner of the NDTV scholar hunt earlier this year, is today studying engineering at Warwick University in the UK. The scholar hunt was the brainchild of the British High Commission in India which launched a contest for scholarships as a way of promoting the UK as a destination for higher education. The hugely popular scholar hunt saw teenagers queuing up in the streets for a chance to study in one of five British universities: Warwick, Leeds, Cardiff, Sheffield or Middlesex. Bangalore boy Aradhya won a scholarship of £45,000 (about Rs 35 lakh).The idiot box is going in for an image makeover. Glitz is out this season, grey cells are in.