Shark Tank India has changed the face of reality shows on Indian Television. The first season of the show became an instant hit among viewers. The concept of funding, entrepreneurship and investment was very refreshing for the viewers and hence they started following the show. But what started with receiving such an overwhelming response from the viewers is now losing its charm.

After the huge hit of its first season, The second season of the show is facing backlash all over social media channels claiming that the show has turned into a reality show with an abundance of emotional drama.

In this article, we will discuss further why people think Shark Tank is turning into an emotional daily soap. We will also discuss some of the reasons why people are questioning the credibility of the show.

What Changes In The New Season?

The format of the second season of Shark Tank is the same as the first season. People present their business pitches in front of sharks to raise investment in exchange for the equity of their company. If any of the Sharks like the pitch and the business idea they offer a deal to the entrepreneur.

Except Ashneer Grover and Ghazal Alagh, the sharks are also the same on the show. The judges of Shark Tank Season 2 are Peyush Bansal, Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta and Vineeta Singh. This season introduces its new judge, Amit Jain, the CEO & Co-Founder of CarDekho.

In addition to this, the most visible change in the show is the elevated level of drama. Let’s discuss this in detail.

Shark Tank Season 2: Reality or Drama?

People were eagerly waiting for the new season to be live. But the new season left the viewers disappointed. They are claiming that the new season is too dramatic and sharks are getting emotional about unnecessary things. People think that the show should focus more on entrepreneurship, business pitches and young minds rather than getting emotional about their stories.

Apart from this, sharks are over-friendly with each other and are preventing themselves from investing in fellow sharks’ competitor brands.

Shark Tank India pitch by Recode — Credit: indianexpress.com

In the first episode of season 2, the Co-Founders of Recode, a Cosmetic Brand, presented their pitch in front of the sharks. Even though the sharks were visibly impressed by the Co-Founder’s pitch and the business, they did not invest in the brand claiming that Recode and Sugar Cosmetics (a brand owned by Vineeta Singh) belong to the same industry. The Recode Co-Founders had to leave empty-handed from the show.

This disappointed netizens to such an extent that they started trolling sharks on social media. Namita Thapar (Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals) replied to the trolls and tweeted, “Being a shark doesn’t mean we are not entitled to our independent values & speaking candidly so if I don’t invest in a fellow sharks competition, that’s me, no regrets”.

Being a shark doesn’t mean we are not entitled to our independent values & speaking candidly so if I don’t invest in a fellow sharks competition, that’s me, no regrets & if I call out toxicity & don’t join the ignorant that celebrate people w lack of integrity.. that’s me 🙂

— Namita (@namitathapar) January 3, 2023

Anupam Mittal and Peyush bansal — Credit: www.pinkvilla.com

Not just friendship, the heated debates between the sharks are also troubling viewers. People are saying that judges are fighting over nothing and it is very clear that the entire fight is scripted.

Since the season gets live on television, it is trending on Twitter but not for the right reasons. One user tweeted, “Shark Tank 2 is slowly turning into a reality show” and the other said, “Season 2 is not even close to season 1 of the show”.

Shark Tank India 2 is slowly turning into Indian Idol.

— Udit Goenka (@iuditg) January 4, 2023

People Are Missing Ashneer Grover

People believe that Ashneer was the charm of the first season of Shark Tank. His witty and straightforward replies made the show a lot more interesting to watch. Viewers loved the desi touch of Ashneer’s way of speaking. The way he used the word ‘Dhanda’ and ‘Doglapan’ connected the people with the show.

People are expressing their love for Ashneer on social media by saying that the show is incomplete without Ashneer. However, Ghazal Alagh is also not part of this season but people are only missing the charm and quirkiness of Ashneer on the show.

Even though Shark Tank Season 2 introduces the new shark Amit Jain but the idea falls flat because Shark Tank India has entered its third week and he still hasn’t made his appearance in the show.

Sharks Themselves Are In Deep Lossesg

Sharks are getting trolled left, right and centre since the beginning of the new season. Every day there is something new that is questioning the credibility of the show. After the claims that sharks are being overdramatic, a LinkedIn post by Ankit Uttam is going viral that claims that except Aman Gupta, all the sharks are suffering deep losses. Ankit Uttam is an Authorpreneur and Marketer, who describes in his post how sharks are drowning in deep losses.

His post mentions:

Vineeta Singh’s Sugar Cosmetics reported a loss of INR 75 crores in FY22.
Lenskart which is owned by Peyush Bansal had a consolidated loss of INR 102.3 Cr in FY22.
Shaadi.com is the only business of Anupam Mittal that is surviving. All his other businesses including Makkan.com and Mauj Mobile are either dead or facing losses.
In FY 21-22, CarDekho, Co-Founded by Amit Jain recorded losses of INR 102.3 Cr.
Namita Thapar is not the Founder of her company, she is the second generation entrepreneur who handles the business of her father.

Final Words

After the tremendous success of the first season, the new season fails to impress its viewers. Be it the absence of witty Ashneer Grover or the overdose of drama on the show. For most viewers, the show has lost its charm. A show that once grabbed the eyeballs of Indian viewers is now facing a backlash.