Hell of a Producer

The story of Raghu Ram’s life swings to two extremes. The brain behind (and co-host of) “MTV Roadies: Hell Down Under”, Raghu is one of the most hated and one of the most popular faces on Indian television. He’s the guy who gave the telly a much needed tadka with his acerbic comments and mind-boggling mind-games on “MTV Roadies” since its inception in 2002. And it was just a twist in the tale that transported him (and twin Rajiv Lakshman) into the world of television; the duo would have otherwise been minding a shop someplace!

Changing lanes

Raghu stuns you with the revelation as he narrates the reason behind his unconventional choice of a career. “Rajiv and I were never keen on studies. For myself, no subject succeeded in enticing me to pick up the textbook — save for History. Scraping through school, we went into science in keeping with our parents’ wishes and failed! Next, we went into the Arts and again failed! We were 20 years old, when we dropped out of college and almost agreed to run a shop that dad decided to open for us. We got an opportunity to train at a TV channel and life zoomed into another lane altogether. So you see, I didn’t choose any career; simply because, I had no choice! I took what was offered to me and am happy to have done well!”

Well, his choice was unconventional, especially since he opted to become a behind-scenes-person than a vee-jay. “I could never become a vee-jay! One needs to talk properly and to all kinds of people for that and I’m not that someone! For starters, I was a complete Hindi-speaker till about eight years back; I couldn’t even speak fluent English, one of the prime requisites to become a vee-jay, especially in a channel like MTV,” says Raghu dismissing assertions that, that is exactly what he has become with *Roadies’ now. “I’m not a vee-jay on Roadies.

There is no such job profile on the show. If at all, there’s an anchor and that is Rannvijay who’s doing a great job. I’m happier behind the camera, brainstorming ideas and directing the show. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of shooting, editing, creating tasks.” In fact, when Roadies begun, I was not on the show; I came on later during season when the auditions started being aired and we desperately wanted a person who’d understand the concept of Roadies out-n-out; would be able to sift through the contestants to create the most interesting mix; and would speak Hindi! Luckily or unluckily, I was the only one who fitted the criteria and thus came in front of the Roadies camera by default!” reveals Raghu who further stuns revealing that he was never in favour of the auditions being aired!

“As the conceptualizer of MTV Roadies, I was dead against the auditions being aired because I was sure that after some time, people would come prepared for the auditions; thus killing the fun and probably, the purpose of the same! I find traces of my fear getting manifested now but so far we’ve been able to adapt the format such that contestants still face the unexpected” he says smiling his rare smiles. All said and done, Raghu has become a ‘personality’; an ‘icon’ and there’s no denying that. “Well I’m in denial; at least I’d like to be. I know I can’t – but, that does not mean I’m happy with it!

Most people would give a leg and arm for the kind of popularity I (and Rajiv) are enjoying today even though it swings to negative extremes in my case. But I’m not amused at seeing my face on hoardings or getting marriage proposals dime a dozen or receiving death threats with alarming regularity. It’s not for the humour or gore associated with the aforementioned; but because my becoming a ‘known face’ is proving to be deterrent in my role as a selector on Roadies.

“The profile requires me to be a keen observer of human behaviour to deduce their characteristics but now, people don’t behave naturally with me as a ‘celebrity’. Add to that, the fact that I get crazily mobbed due to this celeb-hood, makes things very difficult when all I want to do is have a satisfying shoot. Furthermore, the very implication that I’ve ‘created’ a personality is disturbing because I’ve never sought to change my style, language or mannerisms so that I could become popular.

It’s the way I’ve always been; I’ve always lashed out at bigots intending to create dangerous rifts, at people who act supercilious or disrespectful for no reason, at people who treat women as inferiors, or at blindly biased people who refuse to live and let live. Whether I meet one of these sorts on the show or whether on the public level, I react in the same way,” explains Raghu giving a glimpse into the reason behind his recent outburst against Pramod Muthalik during the Mangalore pub incident.

“But, when these traits of mine, which remain constant on and off screen, get bottled into some kind of a formula to be emulated, I don’t find it exciting because it does nothing for the show, which is my prime-most priority; as also, it alludes to the thought that I put on a mask or act on the show, which I don’t!” But Raghu admits that he’s not proud of the extremes of love and hate he elicits. “ “Nobody likes to be hated and I’m no exception. I’m not scared of being one of the most hated guys but it’s not nice to receive SMSes threatening to kill you or have e-games like ‘Slap Raghu’ that makes me think, ‘are there so many people who’ll jump at slapping me, given the opportunity?’

On the other hand, to get bizarre marriage proposals or have them tell you that they attribute their life’s success to your advice on the show is also unnerving because it is a major responsibility. I’d rather people just take what they like from my advice or personality without attributing it to me,” clarifies Raghu adding that’s why he abhors terms like youth icon being stuck on him. “Now that’ll be really scary!” he shudders.

While Raghu is best known as the progenitor of Roadies, not many know that he has also supervised hit shows like “MTV Love Life” and led the first few seasons of “MTV Select”. In the recent past, he’s also been *the brain’ behind shows like “Splitsvilla”, “On the Job” and “It Sucks”! One can’t help observing that Raghu enjoys pitting people against each other. Raghu accepts, “It’s not the complete picture. I enjoy watching people; and popular behaviour is most candidly expressed in face of competition. But, I don’t intend to exploit the weaker person because, having been a skinny guy who got punched in his young days, I would never put anyone through it with an idea of sitting back and watching the fun!”

Double trouble

Coming back to “Roadies”, Raghu says it has become more exciting after Rajiv joined him. “Rajiv’s the wit behind ‘Roadies’; he’s always been there with me behind the camera and it was Rannvijay’s idea to get him to face it too. We thought ek se bhale do! So I made him shave his head and now there are two of us to contend with,” Raghu says gleefully.Well, one thing that never fails to exasperate us hapless viewers is the offbeat choice of contestants. What, exactly, goes on in the combined heads of Raghu and Rajiv? “Well, it’s very easy actually. All we are looking for is someone who’ll be reactive — if he/she is melodramatic, better — one who stands out from the junta; one who will create some kind of spark; and one who can speak Hindi. See, we’re not too difficult…” he trails off!

One can’t let Raghu off without quizzing him about future projects — rumour has it that Bollywood figures. Raghu clarifies, “Film offers are trotting in but they all want to show me as I am in Roadies and I’m certainly not interested. I’m instead happily investing my energies in writing poems/lyrics and, yes, I’m also penning a book,” he signs off.

I’m not scared of being one of the most hated guys around but it’s not a nice thing to receive SMSes threatening to kill you…

Any one who claims to be the youth of India need no introduction to Raghu Ram aka MTV Roadies Raghu.

Having said that many people are dubious on his personal life (eg. From where did he come..) And here I present a quick fact file of Raghu in an attempt to clear those qualms.

Born on 6th June 1973 in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh and brought up in New Delhi.
Completed his studies at Woodstock school, Mussoorie and was employed first by MTV England.
Currently he is the senior supervising producer at MTV India and the executive producer of the show MTV Roadies.
Lives in Andheri, Mumbai with his wife Sugandha garg, who featured in the film Jaane tu ya Jaane naa.

The idea of MTV Roadies in MTV India was given by Raghu which was accepted as a test project. After a few negative talks about the show some features were changed and the show went on air the same year. It remained the most watched MTV show for the last three seasons of MTV Roadies.

The auditions of the sixth season of Roadies came in as a surprise to everyone when Rajiv, the twin brother of Raghu made an entry into the show.

Though people know Raghu as a harsh commenter, stubborn person he is a completely different person off the show. He gives great respect to Women and I still remember in one of the audition episode of the Hell Down Under series when he says “I can never respect someone who doesn’t have respect towards women, never”.

That says it all about Raghu.

And I must admit that I’m seeing Raghu a lot in TV these days, in news channels debates, airtel digital TV advertisements etc. Good going Raghu.

Double trouble

Having heard him scream at contestants on the reality show, “Roadies”, apprehension ran high as I prepared for the interview. It has been a hectic day and with nearly 10 contestants to interview, Raghu Ram looks tired. He is, however, eag er to talk about “Roadies”.

He says, “Roadies has been my baby. I had conceived and executed the first season of the show. I did most of the pre-production work as well. It was enjoyable as well as tiring.The attachment with the series has grown over the years and is now an integral part of my life.”

Is his off screen self different from his on-screen avatar? Raghu laughs, “My behaviour depends on the situation.”

“For the series, I want to choose unconventional contestants. You need to be interesting to be in the show. People are hooked to the show, because it is unpredictable and exciting.”

“Surprises are what makes ‘Roadies’ click. This season, my twin brother Rajeev will also be a judge. Those who though that they only have to deal with me during the auditions, are in for a big shock,” he says with a grin. Unlike other shows which look for inspiration abroad, Raghu says “Roadies” is original. “We have patented the show, which has been borrowed by eight countries.”

Talking about the new season, Raghu says: “We had revised the format during ‘Roadies 3’. Another revision is on the cards this season. The numbers of contestants has been increased to 20.”

Ask him to select his favourite season and Raghu says: “The first season will always remain special, since it was the beginning of the long journey. The response and feedback we received after the show spurred us on. I also enjoyed the last season, as with ‘Roadies’ going global, the show achieved an international feel.”

Talking about Bangalore as a venue, Raghu commented: “During the last season, we got mails asking for Bangalore to feature as an audition centres. We have been quite impressed by the level of maturity and awareness youngsters have in this part of the country. I lived in Bangalore nearly 10 years ago. We hope to have a roadie from Bangalore on the show this year.”

A quick recap of MTV roadies till date

MTV Roadies debuted in 2003. The start of the first season was from 15th August 2003. The whole concept was the idea of Raghu Ram who was the associate executive producer at the time. In the start the idea was highly criticized by the heads, but then it got the green signal and in 2003 the first season of Roadies was in front of us.
Initially it was named as MTV: Find The Road but then the name was changed to MTV Roadies. The show started as an experimental project that can go off air anytime. After that the there was no looking back.
In the first two seasons there were just 7 roadies, then in 3rd, 4th and 5th season there were 13 roadies and now in 6th season there are 20 roadies. When the show started, it was based on the concept of finding clues and then figuring out what they meant then the money tasks and immunity tasks were introduced.

13 manipulative contestants – 7 hunks, 6 beauties on a 40 days road trip.
Host: VJ Rannvijay, winner of Roadies 1
Tasks to survive on Roadies:
Money task
Immunity task
Advantage task
Bike task

The meanest part of the show -‘Vote outs’. Every episode, one or more Roadies get voted out. This leads to a lot of drama, politics, strategy, etc. as Roadies team up and figure out who to vote against, who is voting against whom and who are expected to vote against them.

And finally the spoils - A Hero Honda Karizma and all the moolah collected during the money tasks. This blood money is the contribution of all 13 Roadies.

WHEN IN DOUBT SHUT UP

ALL THE ANSWERS THAT CAN NEVER GET YOU INTO ROADIES

I want to become a VJ and Roadies can get me there.
I’m very diplomatic, I can survive anything on Roadies.
I’m a convict and I’m looking for a way to run out of this country.
I’m gay and I have the hots for Raghu.
I want to make my village famous.
I won’t strip. I won’t sing. I won’t speak foul language. I won’t, I won’t, I
won’t.
Do you think I need more make-up before you start rolling?
I think sex is good for the soul.
My shrink told me that I have to do bold things.
I bunked my boring history class, thought I’ll have some fun here.
I’m too cool for the other reality shows.
I always wanted to steal peanuts from an international airplane.
Babes in Australia wear bikinis, please select me I want to date such
women.
I heard in Australia beer comes free. Cheers.
I think my biceps will be an asset to this show.
My mother’s uncle’s neighbour’s daughter-in-laws’s swimming coach
knows the MLA.
Everybody loves me.
I want money for my nose job.
If Ashu can win, then this is cake walk for me.
I didn’t make it into Bollywood so Roadies is my second option.
My parents told me not to come. I’m a total rebel.
Ummmmm….sorry I’m nervous.
I don’t want to tell you my secrets.
America should rule the world.
Nikhil looks gay.
I have a crush on Raghu, so I’m here.
Pick me I will increase your TRP.
I was just passing by and saw this huge crowd outside, I’m curious.
I thought I’m auditioning for Indian Idol.
I’m a chu%*@
Mujhe paisa chahiye.
I’ve never been to Australia.
I only get along with myself.
This is my only chance to meet hot women.
It is my dream to be a Roadie.
I hate to lose.
I’m a roadie.
My parents think I’m a brain child.
I love adventure.
I have never stepped outside my lane.
I love bikes.
I like to make friends.
I want to be famous.
I have a great personality.
India sucks.

Bloodshed In Gandhinagar

There was bloodshed in Gandhinagar! Raghu and Rajiv brought their evil vibes to the latest episode of Roadies and the Brats were decimated not by the hands of the brothers but by womanly wiles and manly delusions.

In the immunity task, Bobby was bullied into stepping into the coffin whereas Dev volunteered to step in for the 'benefit' of his team. The person that was left behind the coffin basically was out of the game and hare-brained Dev got his ass kicked out by an enraged Raghu. And before Raghu too left he bestowed upon the injured cry baby Bobby the right to grant immunity to two people.

Thanks to Dev's foolishness, Om Blues were safe but the Brats lay open to be voted out except for Bobby. As always they wanted to vote Suzanna out but then Bobby felt it might seem that they are picking on her and suggested Natasha's name and Sandeep protected Natasha saying she was his friend whereas Suzanna wasn't all that friendly towards him.

So in a group of pretty women like Roop, Bobby, Natasha and Suzanna megalomaniac Sandeep was irked that one woman was impervious to his boyish charms and wanted her out!

Suzanna knowing her pretty ass was being cooked by the narcissistic team mates sought the help of Samrat who told her to have a word with Tamanna and rest of the Om Blues team.

There had already been bad blood between Kiri and his ex-Brat mates, he couldn't stand the sight of Roop who he considered to be manipulative and Tamana hated Pradeep and Sandeep's guts for causing Nauman's departure.

The goose was cooked that night but it wasn't Suzy's but Roop's. Roop knew Om Blues would turn against her but she hadn't expected Natasha to vote against her as well.

Bobby cried tears of blood for granting immunity to her male buddies and not saving Roop but she hadn't expected Natasha to turn. Indian soap opera at its best!

The sense of betrayal was strong and there was a massive cat fight between the Brats' women (except for close to tears soft spoken Suzanna) where they called Natasha characterless and a conniving woman hiding behind an innocent face but what I saw at work wasn't some animosity due to personality clash between head strong beautiful women.

There was power struggle over the 'boys' between Natasha and Roop. Kiri had already said that Roop held the reins over the boys and that probably irked Natasha. Her response that Roop had to go sometime or the other didn't hold much water. There can only be one queen bee in the hive. Roop wanted Suzanna out since she was prettier and kind of snooty but didn't expect Natasha had a thing against her's and Bobby's bossy behavior. Natasha had kept her dislike well under wraps until the time was right.

A visibly upset Suzanna stood next to Natasha and the divisions between the group had become clear. Sandeep acted like a betrayed Lothario, Pradeep shook his head and Bobby continued to cry crocodile tears. Two against three but luckily for them in the next episode there aren't going to be any more gangs, every Roadie is going to be alone once again.

Next week's episode has some actual mud wrestling matches and get this there are babes lying on the field in shorts accusing each other of trying to pull each other's shirts up.

Yeah, maintaining one's dignity has never been a wannabe Roadie's forte;)

And the visas did come through. Some lucky Roadies (not all) will get to cry some outback croc tears in Australia.

'You can expect the unexpected' :- Ranvijay

MTV Roadies host Ranvijay speaks to Akshata Shetty about the additional highlights of the show and what he thinks of each of the contestants
Roadies is no more about how well you do a task. It’s much more than that,” says MTV’s hot shot host, Ranvijay Singh about the ongoing adventure show.
He says the aim of the makers is to make Roadies bigger and better each year “It’s a format that is well-known, as people have been following it. So when we audition contestants for the show, they are more open. I still remember when I was on the show as a participant, we were new and didn’t know what was happening. But today, these kids know everything.... That’s when you get to see all the fights and arguments on the show. Much like last year, this time also, we go international and it’s going to be Australia. We love India though and have shot at various locations in the country,” he says.
As an added highlight, Roadies has incorporated the ‘Making of the Episode’ post every show. Why? “Showing ‘Behind-the-scenes’ after every episode was a way to show our viewers that each task is tried and tested by our crew and only when it is ascertained to be safe, do we give it the green signal. We are real people after all and undergo stress and pressure. And the response for this part of the show has been overwhelming. Like people know Bumpy the director, Debi, Chhotu and others.”

Roadies is known for its unexpected twists and turns and that’s exactly what happened at the recent ‘vote out’.

Ranvijay says, “Roop was voted out because of Bobby’s decision to make Sandeep and Pradeep safe. Suzanna and Natasha are together. The show is not about luck, it’s all about how you strategise and stay in the game. You could do it in any way... keep a low profile, be nice to someone or play the right politics.”

Apart from all the fights and use of slang language, this series has had some truly funny contestants on board. Someone like Devashri, who everyone seemed to dislike... Ranvijay has a different take though, “I liked him. Whenever I communicated with him, he did sound confident. But I think he imagined some twists in the show that never happened. He goofed up in the last episode and had to be removed by Raghu and Rajiv. He expected to be patted for his leadership quality but his idea backfired,” he tells us.

Next week, the contestants will face another challenge before they fly to Austrailia. So was this season as fun as the previous ones? “More than fun, it has been exhausting. Yes, I did have fun with the unit. And for the further episodes you can still continue to expect the unexpected,” he promises.