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MUMBAI: Whenever one thinks of unscripted reality shows on Indian television, the first names that come to mind are Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. The brothers have been the brains behind shows like Roadies and Splitsvilla. They even launched Skulls and Roses and India’s Best Judwaah under their own production house, Monozygotic Solutions.
Also Read- Shocking! This is why Raghu Ram quit MTV Roadies
Raghu Ram was the executive producer of roadies and appeared in its 6 seasons. When Raghu quit the show that made him an overnight celebrity in 2009, his fans were left clueless and confused. He had later said that there was no bad blood between MTV and him, but also wrote about his departure from the show in his 2013 autobiography, Rearview: My Roadies Journey.
Raghu revealed he had problems with an MTV executive named Ashish who threatened him and didn’t allow him to work in any other channel. He narrated his harrowing tale saying, “I told him I never got paid for appearing on Roadies, anyway (I was only paid as an employee of the channel), and that I had equity outside that I wanted to monetize. It was not in the same space as Roadies, so there was no conflict of interest here. Furthermore, we were only going to shoot on weekends when MTV was shut, so I would not be taking any time away from my work. I could see no problem with this arrangement. Ashish heard me out, then said, ‘No, bro, this doesn’t work for MTV.’ I was very hurt, but all I said was, ‘Well, bro, in that case, MTV doesn’t work for me.”
Raghu later submitted his resignation but didn’t hear from them and while he was away episodes of season 6 that were already looked by Raghu were edited without his input. Raghu got in touch with the HR and asked them to accept his resignation.
Shockingly, Raghu received a new contract in early 2009 which he was not at all happy about. Talking about it he wrote, “When I returned to the office in early January, my contract was waiting. And such a ridiculous contract it was. It basically said that I couldn’t work outside, I couldn’t quit MTV. I had to recognize that my contribution to MTV and Roadies was stuff that couldn’t be measured in money. If I worked outside, MTV had the right to stop me and sue me, and so on. It was basically bonded labour! I sent a reply to Ashish saying, ‘You could have sent me the contract you did, or you could have sent me a single line: Tu karega, tera baap bhi karega.’ MTV doesn’t own my a** and never has. I told him I was quitting right then and there. And since they had threatened me with legal action, I dared them now. Sue me. See if I care. I’m out.”
Although Raghu accepted the contract, he was barred from entering the second season of Splitsvilla. Things got worse and he eventually decided he just couldn’t continue, and this time his resignation was accepted.
Raghu and his twin brother Rajiv have recently launched a new reality show on Netflix called IRL: In Real Love.
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Credit-Indianexpress
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