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Raghu Ram on why he’s always angry on TV, recalls Anu Malik’s viral Indian Idol rejection: ‘Imagine my anger if he accepted me’

Actor-host Raghu Ram recently opened up about his viral loud outburst video from an audition for Indian Idol season one. He also recalled his Ayodhya conversation with a contestant on MTV Roadies.

Raghu Ram answers why he gets angry on television

Raghu Ram‘s viral video from the first season of Indian Idol, where he auditioned and got into a heated argument with judges Anu Malik, Farah Khan, and Sonu Nigam after getting rejected still does rounds on social media. In fact, the actor-host is also known for his angry outbursts and loud rants on television. In a recent podcast with Two Girls & Two Cups, he recalled the old clips and shared his side of the story behind them. He also opened up about people judging him for being an atheist.

During the conversation, Raghu cited an example of his atheism to explain the different between feminist (someone who supports equal rights for women) and feminazi (man-hater). “I am an atheist. Atheism is not believing, I don’t hate God, that’s called an anti-theist. Similarly, feminazis are not feminists, they are misandrists, but they spoil the name of feminists by calling themselves that,” he said.

The hosts then asked the actor why he has an image of getting angry on television. They also revisited the viral video of Anu Malik rejecting Raghu during his audition on Indian Idol (2003). Joking about the same, he said, “Imagine my anger if he had accepted me. I don’t think there was even Youtube at that time, or it was just starting I guess. My point is that clip was viral on TV. People are still talking about it. I didn’t want to do it. My girlfriend at that time said that I will do it, and I did,” he expressed.

ALSO READ | Raghu Ram recalls his viral Indian Idol audition, reveals he was planted by show’s producers to ‘fight with the judges’

He further added, “I didn’t know what to sing, the person before me sang it so I picked it. I have now stopped singing and yelling. But, I feel like if I don’t yell, nothing will happen. I went viral on TV just because I showed some attitude. So, when you ask me why am I viral on TV, because people like it!”

They revisited an audition video from MTV Roadies, which was judged by Raghu Ram. The confused contestant was asked about Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. The actor tried to correct him, but stating the wrong fact himself. “Ayodhya was Mahabharat, where Krishan ji was born,” he said with pride.

While talking about sex education in our country, Raghu recalled doing an HIV AIDS awareness campaign with a messed up slogan. “There was a show called ‘Haath Se Haath Mila’ on Doordarshan, about spreading AIDS awareness in the cow belt of India – Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, etc. So, we were given workshops to go to villages and talk to those people about sex, without offending anybody,” he shared.

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“However, you can’t talk to women in villages. If you say something inappropriate, they can throw you out, we actually were. The government asked us not to say condom and use the word ‘Saiyam’ instead. Abstinence is our message. The official messaging was, ‘Saiyam rakho, AIDS hojaata hai’,” he ended.

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