Roadies mania

Further on,inside the hall rested even more participants,waiting for the real challenge to begin. Here is where the veterans waited; people who had been auditioning for years; for whom the auditions were more than just a fun break from everyday life. Milan Bochiwal (25),for instance,was auditioning for the show for the eighth time. Bochiwal,who teaches guitar to TCS employees and runs his own event management company in Ahmedabad,takes time off from work every year and travels from one Roadies centre to another,hoping to crack the auditions. Last year,he got selected from Chandigarh. This year,if he doesn’t make the cut in Pune,he will follow the auditions to Chandigarh,Delhi and Hyderabad. “Everyone wants success,money or for something else. I want fame,” he adds.

Rakesh Tanwar,(28) has taken his passion for Roadies to an entirely new level,naming his two sons Roadies and Raghu Ram Tanwar. Fifth-time auditioner Tanwar says,“I am crazy about Roadies. I just want to win the title; I haven’t planned anything beyond that.”

While most wannabe Roadies seem quite eager to share their stories and even swap anecdotes with each other,Nikhat Khan (23) is embarrassed to talk about her history with the show. She recalls the eighth season in 2010,when she made it to the personal interview round. While on air,on national television,she was asked whether she had a boyfriend and she admitted she did. That was when her family found out she was dating and according to Khan,they weren’t too pleased about it. “There was a lot of tension when I went back home. For two months I didn’t go out,” she recounts. And yet,here she was,auditioning for the third time. “My family doesn’t know I’m here to audition. I convinced them to send me to Pune to study but I want to participate in Roadies because it is the shortcut to fame,” says Khan,a student at MIT.

Jahid Kaleem (27) is originally from Varanasi and shifted to Mumbai four months ago,to be around for the auditions. Auditioning for the first time,this is not his first brush with fame. He has acted as the villain in two Bhojpuri films,the most recent of which – ‘Harra’ – is due to release in February. Kaleem,who lost a leg in an accident in 1989,sees Roadies as a way to show that he is a survivor.

Show creator,Raghu Ram says,“When I hear of such instances,where people are inspired by the show,that is the biggest compliment for me.”