Raghu Ram

In this Telugu name, the surname is Ambadapudi.

Raghu Ram Ambadapudi (born 15 April 1973)[3] is an Indian actor and television presenter who predominantly works in Hindi and Telugu television shows, and films. He began his career as the creator of Hindi reality shows MTV Roadies (2003–2014) and MTV Splitsvilla (2008–2009).[1] Ram later also hosted various television shows.

He made his film debut with the Hindi romantic comedy Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010) and got breakthrough with the Tamil action comedy Doctor (2021). He made his Telugu debut with the crime comedy Keedaa Cola (2023).

Early life

Raghu Ram was born into a Telugu family in New Delhi, along with his twin brother, Rajiv Lakshman.[1][4]

Ram attended Deshbandhu College and Sri Venkateswara College,[5] finally earning his degree at Osmania University in Hyderabad.[1]

Career

Early career

Raghu Ram (left) with his brother Rajiv Lakshman

Raghu Ram started his career at MTV India supervising shows including MTV Love Line with VJs Malaika Arora and Cyrus Broacha, and also spearheaded MTV Select and the first few seasons of MTV Super Select with VJ Nikhil Chinapa.[1]

In 2004, Ram appeared in the first season of the reality TV show Indian Idol as a contestant with judges Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam.[6] He was rejected due to inefficient singing ability and signature attitude traits.[7] He later explained in his autobiography that picking a fight with the judges was actually a prank he played, on the suggestion of one of his colleagues and his wife who were working there as moderators.[6]

MTV India

The MTV Roadies format was created by Nikhil J Alva, the founder of Miditech Studios and the show went on air in 2003.[8] The format creator, Nikhil J Alva, had conceptualized Roadies as a series that would unite Indian youth around acts of social service and kindness as they travelled around India. He had envisioned that the show would create a new generation of youth icons. In fact, the winners of Season 1, Rannvijay Singha and Season 2, Aayushman Khurana, validated the format creators original premise. At that time, Raghu Ram and Rajiv Ram, were employees of Miditech Studios and worked as Associate Producers. Seeing the popularity of the series soar, MTV moved the production of the series in-house and assigned it to Raghu Ram and Rajeev Ram, who had by this time been employed by MTV, as Anchor/Producers. It was at this time that the show took a dramatic turn from its original social-do-good premise, to crass, in-your-face and aggressive reality. The ratings climbed, but the show appeared to lose its soul.[1][9] The show was originally titled MTV: Find The Road, and was initially met with skepticism by the senior producers of the channel. It started to gain popularity from its second season onwards and went on to become the longest running reality show on Indian television.[5] 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.[1][10]

In 2014, Ram announced that he wouldn't be attached with Roadies from season X2, after being associated with the show for 11 years.[10][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]

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 faces.[13] This was for using foul language on national television while they were participating in a promotional rally in the city.[13]

Ram wrote an autobiography titled Rearview: My Roadies Journey, published in 2013.[14]

Post-Roadies

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.[15][16][17] Ram along with his brother have performed in the comedy series Comedy Nights Bachao on Colors TV.[18] Raghu Ram has also performed in the comedy serial Entertainment Ki Raat.[19] In 2019, Ram and his brother Rajiv starred in Amazon Prime Video's Skulls and Roses. The show received negative reviews and it was not continued for the second season.

Film career

Ram and his brother have acted in a few Hindi films like Tees Maar Khan in 2010 along with Akshay Kumar as the Johari brothers, though the film didn't do well at the box office.[10] In the same year, Ram also acted in Jhoota Hi Sahi with actor John Abraham.[10]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Language
2010 Jhootha Hi Sahi Omar Hindi
Tees Maar Khan Johri Bro.
2013 Love You Soniye Mahendra Singh Gill Punjabi
2016 Varthak Nagar Kunwar Singh
2021 Doctor Melvin Tamil
2023 Keedaa Cola Shots Telugu
2024 Gandhi Tatha Chettu
Mechanic Rocky Chanti / R. Kranthi
2025 Good Bad Ugly Zakaba Tamil

Television

Year Title Role Network Language Notes
2003–2014 MTV Roadies Self MTV Hindi Also creator
2008–2009 MTV Splitsvilla Self Also co-creator
2017 MTV Dropout Pvt Ltd Mentor
2018 India's Best Judwaah Judge Zee
Entertainment Ki Raat Self Colors
2016–2019 A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend Siddharth Babar Arre
2016 Soadies Raghu Ram JioCinemas
2017 TVF InMates Raghu Ram TVF
2019 Skulls & Roses Host Amazon Prime Also co-creator
2023 IRL In Real Love Netflix Creator and Director
2024 Jamnapaar Rajat Thapar Amazon miniTV

Personal life

Raghuram was married to actress Sugandha Garg.[20] In 2016, they announced their separation, after having been married for almost a decade. Their divorce was finalised in 2018.[2][21]

In 2018, he married singer Natalie Di Luccio.[22] On 8 January 2020, they had a son.[23]

Publications

Ram's autobiography Rearview: My Roadies Journey was published by Rupa Publications in 2013.[5][24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 6 September 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Chaurasia, Ankita (6 January 2016). "Reason behind Raghu Ram-Sugandha Garg's divorce revealed". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  3. ^ Rearview: My Roadies Journey. Rupa Publications India. 1 November 2013. ISBN 978-8129129116.
  4. ^ Jain, Saudamini (24 November 2013). "Raghu Ram, the nudest man on Indian television". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Gupta, Yatin (22 February 2014). "'Rearview, My Roadies Journey' is all things about Raghu and Roadies". News18. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b Ladage, Rutu (31 May 2016). "OMG! Did you know Raghu Ram actually auditioned for Indian Idol and was KICKED OUT?!". India.com. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Raghu Ram once auditioned for Indian Idol, told Anu Malik 'I don't like people being rude to me'. Watch". Hindustan Times. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ Chowdhry, Seema (8 August 2008). "Nikhil J Alva | The big boss of reality TV". mint. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Former Roadies director slams the show: Sickens me to see what has been done to the format over time". India Today. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Misra, Iti Shree (7 May 2014). "I am done with Roadies: Raghu Ram". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  11. ^ Mehta, Ankita (22 November 2014). "'MTV Roadies': Esha Deol Replaces Raghu and Rajiv as Reality Show Judge". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  12. ^ Narwani, Natasha (20 November 2014). "Esha Deol, Karan Kundra and Vijender Singh to enter Roadies". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  13. ^ a b Misra, Iti Shree (25 April 2011). "ABVP is behaving like Poonam Pandey: Raghu". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  14. ^ Gupta, Yatin (22 February 2014). "'Rearview, My Roadies Journey' is all things about Raghu and Roadies". ibnlive.in.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2015. ISBN 978-81-291-2911-6
  15. ^ "Arre to launch new series 'A.I.SHA - My Virtual Girlfriend'". IndianTelevision.com. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Raghu Ram launches web cam fiction show 'A.I.S.H.A – My Virtual Girlfriend'". IndianTelevision.com. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Raghu and Shruti roast Vivek Oberoi". Voot. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  19. ^ TV, Colors. "Bigg Boss 12 Voting & Elimination - Voot.com". www.voot.com.
  20. ^ Ghosh, Debasmita (4 May 2012). "Sugandha wants to act with Raghu". Hindustan Times. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  21. ^ "Yes, Raghu and I are separating, confirms Sugandha Garg". The Indian Express. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Roadies' fame Raghu Ram marries girlfriend Natalie Di Luccio". Rediff.com. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  23. ^ "'Roadies' Fame Raghu Ram & Wife Natalie di Luccio BLESSED with a Baby Boy". 7 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Book Review : Raghu - Rearview My Roadies Journey". Errors And Kaushal. Retrieved 8 October 2016.

Bibliography

Media related to Raghu Ram at Wikimedia Commons