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MTV forgot to copyright Roadies brand until Pakistanis copied it, furious Raghu Ram threatened to ‘sue their pants off’

Raghu Ram revealed that he nearly secured the rights to Roadies, but MTV beat him to it.

raghu waqar zakaRaghu Ram took offence to his concept for Roadies being co-opted in Pakistan.

Raghu Ram, the creator of MTV Roadies, revealed an interesting piece of trivia about the wildly popular and long-running reality show. In an appearance on Tanmay Bhat’s YouTube channel, Raghu spoke about the Pakistani version of Roadies, and admitted that he wanted MTV to ‘sue their pants off’. The trouble, he discovered, was that the channel hadn’t secured the copyrights for the Roadies brand even after four seasons.

Raghu said that he decided to copyright the brand himself, but MTV beat him to it. He joked that he’d be far wealthier had he been able to own the brand’s rights. He quit the show many years ago, but the show continued after his departure. It is now set to return for a 20th season. On Tanmay’s channel, Raghu was shown a clip from the Pakistani version of Roadies, and asked if he’s familiar with it. He said that he’s aware of the show, and went on to share a story about its host, Waqar Zaka.

Also read – Raghu Ram says divorce ‘nearly killed’ him, reveals wife Natalie’s family objected to their marriage: ‘He’s the most abusive man in India’

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He said, “He had a show called Living on the Edge. He rebranded it, calling it Pakistani Roadies, at the end of season four. Then I realised that these guys are co-opting the brand, so I went to my boss’ office and said, ‘Sue the pants off these guys’. He said, ‘We can’t’. I said, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘Because we haven’t copyrighted Roadies’.”

Read more – ‘MTV demanded a Rs 30 lakh cut out of my Rs 1 crore Bigg Boss winnings’: Ex-winner Ashutosh Kaushik recalls ruining relationship with channel

Raghu continued, “This was after four seasons. I was like, ‘What?’ I took it very personally, because it was my life’s work. I said, ‘I’ll copyright it myself, I want to sue this guy’. So I went and threatened them, and two days later, they copyrighted it. Imagine if they hadn’t. I would’ve copyrighted Roadies. I would’ve never spoken to any of you guys. Mereko zarurat hi nahi padti (I wouldn’t have had to).”

MTV Roadies debuted in 2003, and was presented as a radical evolution on the Indian television landscape. The show featured contestants such as Rannvijay Singha, Ayushmann Khurrana, Prince Narula, Varun Sood, and others. It will return for a 20th season soon.

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