Roadies X2 is a new transformed show with a format that will see four judges leading their own team of gang members. While Karan Kundra, Vijender Singh and Esha Deol are new additions to Roadies, the channel thought it wise to have the trusted Rannvijay Singh as the fourth and most experienced judge of the lot to take this show notches higher than the earlier seasons. Rannvijay who is quite close to ex feared judges, Raghu and Rajiv, believes that current season is in no way looking to compensate for their (Raghu-Rajiv) absence.
“I don’t think anyone is looking to compensate for their absence. Had we been making a show that is similar to the previous seasons then yes their absence would have been a great loss. But now it’s a different kind of a show. And had Raghu and Rajiv been among the judges along with me in the current one, then given our similar ideologies and mindsets, we would have chosen only the same kind of gang members. That is the reason we have four different judges with different set of personalities on the show,” avers Rannvijay.
The show may not miss Raghu and Rajiv but on a personal level Rannvijay reveals that he will miss his old companions, Raghu and Rajiv. “I will miss them personally but I am also in touch with them almost daily.”
While Roadies has been around for a considerably long time and is perhaps one of the most popular ones among youth today, for Rannvijay how it fares on television is immaterial. TRPs are just not his thing and nor does he care about them. But that’s for a good reason.
“I don’t care about TRPs as much as the channel does. We are in the 12th season. So what does it say? The amount of consumption of Roadies on internet is huge. It’s a brand. There are events happening in college which is based on the format of Roadies. How do you quantify that into TRP? How do you quantify a good bike riding kid who is called Roadie by his friends into TRPs? You don’t quantify the one million YouTube hits into TRPs. Brands quantify that. Look at the number of brands that get associated with Roadies. You won’t find it on the highest rated show of television. Roadies is not a mainstream show. TRPS never affected it. Roadies has sold shoes and other merchandise as well. Show me one daily soap that has achieved that distinction.”
Being a true blue Roadie, Rannvijay also would want to see his gang members imbibing his disciplined lifestyle. Shares Rannvijay, “I am a very disciplined person. My gang members will have to live the way I do. They will have to get up at 4 am if I want them to. They will have to doubly train for a task if I want them to. You will see an extension of my personality in my gang members. They are representing me so I would want them to ace everything that they do.”
Ask him about the competitive spirit that will linger among all the judges and Rannvijay says, “If I was in competition with these guys, then I would ace it, no doubt. Many athletes have come on Roadies but they couldn’t do the tasks as well as me. For instance, Vijender is the best boxer in our country but how will that help him walk on fire. I will be able to that as I have been doing a lot of action since my childhood and also in films and Roadies too. So I can come up triumphant but then we judges are not really up against each other. It’s the gang members who will be doing the tasks.”
Does that mean, his gang members will have an upper hand at the tasks given their leader’s penchant to ace all stunts? “If they listen to me, they will have an edge,” says a winking Rannvijay before signing off.
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