Raghu Ram

Raghu Ram

Raghu Ram at Agnee's Bollywood debut
Born Raghu Ram [1]
(1973-04-15) 15 April 1973[2]
Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India[2]
Occupation Television Producer, actor
Years active 1995–present
Political party Aadmi Party[1]
Spouse(s) Sugandha Garg (m. 2006; div. 2016)[3]

Raghu Ram Ambadapudi (born 15 April 1973)[2] is an Indian television producer and actor. He was earlier a senior supervising producer at MTV India and the executive producer of reality television shows MTV Roadies and MTV Splitsvilla.[2] He was married to actress Sugandha Garg. His brother is Rajiv Laxman. The brothers launched their own content studio called Monozygotics in 2014.[4]

Early and personal life

Ram was born in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.[2] He was born an identical-twin and grew up in Delhi, India, along with his twin brother, Rajiv Laxman.[5] Their father is a chartered accountant and mother a political affairs journalist.[2] They have a younger sister Supriya Nistala, who is married and has a daughter.[2]

The twin brothers studied at the Woodstock School, Landour, Uttarakhand.[2] They later attended the University of Delhi in Delhi.[6] In the first year, both were students of Deshbandhu College, but in the second year, they joined Sri Venkateswara College.[6] In the final year, they joined Osmania University in Hyderabad where they completed their graduation.[2]

Ram was married to actress Sugandha Garg, who has played roles in Hindi films Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Tere Bin Laden and My Name Is Khan.[7] In 2016, they announced their separation, after being married for almost a decade.[3][8]

Career

Raghu Ram (left) with his brother Rajiv

Ram started his career at MTV India supervising shows including MTV Love Line with VJs Malaika Arora Khan and Cyrus Broacha, and also spearheaded MTV Select and the first few seasons of MTV Super Select with VJ Nikhil Chinapa.[2] His idea of MTV Roadies was accepted as an experimental project by MTV in 2000.[2] The show was tentatively titled MTV: Find The Road, and was initially met with skepticism by the senior producers of the channel. The show later started to gain popularity from its second season onwards and went on to become the longest running reality show on Indian television.[6] Ram was later appointed the senior supervising producer of MTV India and the executive producer of Roadies as well as MTV Splitsvilla, another reality show which he had launched in 2008.[2][9]

In 2004, Ram appeared in the first season of the reality television show Indian Idol as a contestant and was one of those who came to test his voice out in front of the judges – Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam.[10] He was rejected due to inefficient singing ability and signature attitude traits. He later explained in his autobiography that it was a prank played by him, to pick up a fight with the judges which was insisted by one of his colleagues and his wife who have been working there as moderators.[10]

In 2014, Ram announced that he won't be attached with Roadies from season X2, after being associated with the show for 11 years.[9][11] He said on Twitter, "roadies is happening. I'm not gonna do it, though. I'm done with it. Moved on. About time, too."[12]

Ram and his brother have also acted in several Bollywood films like Tees Maar Khan in 2010 along with Akshay Kumar as Johari brothers though the film didn't do well at box office.[9] In the same year, Ram also acted in Jhoota Hi Sahi with actor John Abraham.[9] His acting was appreciated by critics.[13] He was also nominated for the Best Singer Award at the GIMA Awards 2012 for his song "Manmani".[14]

In April 2011, Ram, along with MTV Roadies co-hosts, his brother Rajiv and Rannvijay Singh had to face a difficult situation in Pune when some activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) tried to blacken their face.[15] This was for using foul language on national television while they were participating in a promotional rally in the city.[15]

Ram wrote his autobiography titled Rearview: My Roadies Journey, published in 2013.[16]

In April 2016, Ram launched a web-series titled A.I.SHA – My Virtual Girlfriend, a webcam fiction show through the online content platform Arre.[17][18][19]

Ram along with his brother have also performed in the comedy series Comedy Nights Bachao on Colors TV.[20]

Book

Raghu has written a book on his life titled, Rearview: My Roadies Journey which was published Rupa Publications and was available for the readers in print from 17 November 2013.[21] The book talks about various phases of his life right from his childhood to being the judge on reality show Roadies on MTV India. He also talks about his love for music, brother Rajiv Lakshman and wife Sugandha. The book was well received by his fans and revealed quite a lot about him.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 A Correspondent (12 May 2016). "All in a day's work: Raghu Ram takes on Narendra Modi, Modi bhakts and BJP". Mid-day. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 10 Minutes To 1. "Take risks in your life. If you win you can lead ! If you loose, you can guide". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  3. 1 2 Chaurasia, Ankita (6 January 2016). "Reason behind Raghu Ram-Sugandha Garg's divorce revealed". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  4. ↑ TNN (30 July 2014). "Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman set to launch their next project". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  5. ↑ Jain, Saudamini (24 November 2013). "Raghu Ram, the rudest man on Indian television". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  6. 1 2 3 Gupta, Yatin (22 February 2014). "'Rearview, My Roadies Journey' is all things about Raghu and Roadies". News18. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  7. ↑ Ghosh, Debasmita (4 May 2012). "Sugandha wants to act with Raghu". Hindustan Times. New Delhi. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Yes, Raghu and I are separating, confirms Sugandu Banchod". The Indian Express. 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Misra, Iti Shree (7 May 2014). "I am done with Roadies: Raghu Ram". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  10. 1 2 Ladage, Rutu (31 May 2016). "OMG! Did you know Raghu Ram actually auditioned for Indian Idol and was KICKED OUT?!". India.com. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  11. ↑ Mehta, Ankita (22 November 2014). "'MTV Roadies': Esha Deol Replaces Raghu and Rajiv as Reality Show Judge". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  12. ↑ Narwani, Natasha (20 November 2014). "Esha Deol, Karan Kundra and Vijender Singh to enter Roadies". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  13. ↑ Adarsh, Taran. "Jhootha Hi Sahi Plastic chemistry, lifeless music". Sify. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  14. ↑ "Not just a show host: Theres more to know about Raghu Ram". India Today. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  15. 1 2 Misra, Iti Shree (25 April 2011). "ABVP is behaving like Poonam Pandey: Raghu". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  16. ↑ Gupta, Yatin (22 February 2014). "'Rearview, My Roadies Journey' is all things about Raghu and Roadies". ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved 1 May 2015. ISBN 978-81-291-2911-6
  17. ↑ "Arre to launch new series 'A.I.SHA - My Virtual Girlfriend'". IndianTelevision.com. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Banan, Aastha (8 May 2016). "Love in virtual hell: Raghu Ram and Harman Singha's new web show may scare you off Siri". Mid-Day. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Raghu Ram launches web cam fiction show 'A.I.S.H.A – My Virtual Girlfriend'". IndianTelevision.com. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "Raghu and Shruti roast Vivek Oberoi". Voot. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "'Rearview, My Roadies Journey' is all things about Raghu and Roadies". News18. 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  22. ↑ "Book Review : Raghu - Rearview My Roadies Journey". Errors And Kaushal. Retrieved 2016-10-08.

Bibliography

External links

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