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Raghu Ram became a celebrity in his own right with the hit reality show Roadies, which he executive produced and regularly appeared in for six seasons. The announcement of his departure in 2009 led to speculation among the shows fans, who were left wondering why he’d decided to quit a show that he helped build; a show that was at the peak of its popularity at that time.
While Raghu spoke about his departure in interviews, and said that there were no hard feelings between him and MTV, he wrote at length about his departure from the show in his 2013 autobiography, Rearview: My Roadies Journey. Raghu wrote that he had differences with an MTV executive named Ashish, who refused to allow him to work for a different channel, even though it would not affect his work on Roadies.
Things became heated when Raghu was presented with a new contract that he described as ‘bonded labour’. He recalled his meeting with Ashish, “I told him I never got paid for appearing on Roadies, anyway (I was only paid as an employee of the channel), and that I had equity outside that I wanted to monetize. It was not in the same space as Roadies, so there was no conflict of interest here. Furthermore, we were only going to shoot on weekends when MTV was shut, so I would not be taking any time away from my work. I could see no problem with this arrangement. Ashish heard me out, then said, ‘No, bro, this doesn’t work for MTV.’ I was very hurt, but all I said was, ‘Well, bro, in that case, MTV doesn’t work for me.’”
He submitted his resignation, but didn’t hear back. In the meantime, work continued. Raghu was disheartened to learn that episodes of Roadies season 6 that he had already locked were re-edited without his input. “It was obviously a power tussle and I refused to take it lying down,” he wrote, adding that he reached out to HR again, and demanded that his resignation be accepted.
In early 2009, Raghu said that he received a new contract, but he wasn’t pleased with it. “When I returned to the office in early January, my contract was waiting. And such a ridiculous contract it was. It basically said that I couldn’t work outside, I couldn’t quit MTV. I had to recognize that my contribution to MTV and Roadies was stuff that couldn’t be measured in money. If I worked outside, MTV had the right to stop me and sue me, and so on. It was basically bonded labour! I sent a reply to Ashish saying, ‘You could have sent me the contract you did, or you could have sent me a single line: Tu karega, tera baap bhi karega.’ MTV doesn’t own my a** and never has. I told him I was quitting right then and there. And since they had threatened me with legal action, I dared them now. Sue me. See if I care. I’m out.”
Raghu eventually ended up accepting the contract, but felt that he was being deliberately sidelined. As an example, he said that he was barred from appearing on the second season of Splitsvilla. “The equation worsened,” Raghu wrote, and some time later, he had another conversation with Ashish and told him that he simply cannot continue. This time, his resignation was accepted.
Raghu and his twin brother, Rajiv Lakshman, recently launched their latest reality show, Netflix’s IRL: In Real Love. However, they didn’t appear on screen. They have also produced Prime Video’s Skulls and Roses.
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