Sima Taparia was in Switzerland enjoying some time with her family when she got the news of her show, Indian Matchmaking Season 3, getting an Emmy nomination again, and she has not stopped smiling since then. The celebrity matchmaker admits that the global recognition is a fitting response to all the people looking at the show with a more critical lens.
“I was vacationing in Switzerland with my family and had no clue that the nominations were out. The news came to me as a sweet surprise. Everyone is so happy that the show has got global acknowledgment and recognition at the Emmys for the second time. It is a proud moment for me, and for India,” an excited Taparia tells us.
She adds, “We were nominated phele bhi but couldn’t win. We have got another chance to win the Emmy for the whole team who worked hard on it. This time, I am sure that the Emmy will come to India. That being said, leaving winning aside, getting a nomination is also a big deal. We were not disappointed when we didn’t win the Emmy last time. Because we know it is an honour to get a nod as only some shows get picked out of hundreds of the show”.
The reality project, which shows Taparia guiding clients in the US and India in the arranged marriage process, has bagged a nomination for the 75th Emmy Awards under the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program category. The show is pitted against RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked, Selling Sunset, Vanderpump Rules and Welcome To Wrexham. Earlier, Taparia’s show was nominated in the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program category at the 73rd edition of the awards.
The Mumbai-based matchmaker, fondly called Sima aunty, feels the nomination is also an answer to all the people who criticise it, terming it as a problematic portrayal seen through a regressive lens.
“The recognition is an answer to all the people who were saying negative things about the show. If a global body is recognising us, show mein kuch toh hoga na. But I don’t mind the negative remarks because everything can’t be good. Some people will have something negative to say about the show. It is with the positive and negative that a show becomes a hit,” she says, adding, “Log pura dekh rahe hain tabhi hi toh negative comment de rahe hain. Everyone has a different perception. Negative mein bhi maza hai, at least show hit ho raha hai. The nod also means that people have accepted the whole concept of arranged marriage in India”.
Taparia likes to focus on the love she gets from the fans, as she puts, “They are the reason I have become a global face. They come and tell me that I have changed the face of Indian weddings. I am just spreading Indian traditional values all across the world, something which youngsters were forgetting”.
Taparia, who made her debut as a singer with Shadi ki Tayaree hai this year, wraps up with a message for the youngsters. “Please do not forget our traditional values,” she signs off.
