MTV Roadies is an Indian reality television series. It was launched on 15 August 2003 and airs on MTV India. The show is digitally available on JioCinema. In this show, a group of contestants travel to different destinations and participate in various tasks that challenge their physical, social and mental strength.

Overview

History

The Roadies format was created by Nikhil J Alva, founder of Miditech Studios. Miditech Studios produced the first 2 seasons of the Roadies series. In those early days, the format creator, Nikhil J Alva, had conceptualized the format as one that would unite the youth of India through social work and random acts of kindness as the contestants travelled across India. Seeing its popularity soar, the series was taken over by MTV from Miditech, to be produced in-house after the second season. Raghu Ram and Rajiv Ram, former Miditech Studio employees, were tasked with producing and anchoring the show for MTV. Under Raghu and Rajiv's guidance, the show took a dramatic turn away from its feel-good-social-flavor, to a more crass, and in-your-face tone. Raghu and Rajiv left the show in 2014. They told the media that they had done enough to popularise the show and wanted to give opportunities to the new generation to carry the show forward. With a 17-year history, it is one of India's longest running reality shows. During the course of the journey there are vote outs, vote ins, eliminations and game changing twists. Eventually the contestant who manages to survive vote outs and succeed in the finale is chosen as the winner. The show has enjoyed relative success among the youth.

Format

The first two seasons had a cap on the daily budget allocated to the contestants. During the show, apart from learning about India's diversity, they were also given tasks to get to know each other. The tasks became more aggressive with over-the-top-reality sequences, from the third season onwards, when it was taken over from Miditech Studios by MTV. Since the fourth season, Battleground (2006-2009, 2014–present) later known as Graveyard (2010-2011, 2013-2014) the show introduced the choice wild cards. In the fifth season, The "Advantage task" was introduced. The winner of the task would get an advantage in the vote out, which could be multiple votes or being the only one(s) to vote. That was the first time the show went international. In the tenth season, a team of former contestants mentored by Raghu Ram were pitted against a team of fresh contestants mentored by Rannvijay Singha, who was the winner of the first version of the contest. In the twelfth season, during the auditions, "Gang Leaders" were introduced. Four Gang Leaders had to hit a buzzer to express their interest in a contestant. Contestants in return had the option to choose which gang they would like to be a part of. In the fourteenth season, bikes, which had been a common aspect of the show, were discontinued and the makers opted for a car. That continued into the fifteenth season as well and so on. Season nineteen was introduced with a new concept of debut roadies and ex-roadies competing against each other for the title. Bikes, which had been a common aspect of the earlier seasons, were introduced again. That was the first season without the presence of Rannvijay Singha. Across all seasons, vote outs, vote ins, immunity, eliminations, captaincy, twists introduced by the makers, and special appearances by guests like actors, sportspersons and musicians have been regular features of the show.

Series synopses

Season 1

MTV Roadies 1 is the first season of the reality series. It premiered on 15 August 2003 and ended on 8 November 2003 with Rannvijay Singha emerging as the winner.

Season 2

MTV Roadies 2 is the second season of the reality series. It premiered on 21 August 2004 and ended on 12 March 2005 with Ayushmann Khurrana emerging as the winner.

Season 3

MTV Roadies 3 is the third season of the reality series. It premiered on 11 November 2005 and ended on 3 March 2006 with Parul Shahi emerging as the winner.

Season 4

MTV Roadies 4 is the fourth season of reality game show MTV Roadies that aired on MTV India from 2006–2007. Hosted by MTV VJ Rannvijay, the show features 13 contestants who ride Hero Honda Karizma bikes on a journey where they endure "sun, snow, rain and physical and mental stress, while complex challenges are thrown at them from every direction." In keeping with the reality contest format, contestants at each episode can be eliminated from the game with a vote out. At the final destination, Gangtok, the winner is awarded a cash prize of up to 500,000 Indian rupees (₹ 5,00,000). Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover makes appearances in the season to introduce twists into the game. The show's winner was Anthony Yeh. Roadies auditions were held in Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Mumbai and, for the first time, Lucknow. A total of 13 Roadies, seven men and six women, were chosen. They are:

Season 5

MTV Roadies 5.0 is the fifth season of MTV Roadies, a reality television show aired on MTV India. The show was created by Raghu Ram and is hosted by Rannvijay. "Roadies has travel, adventure, drama, touch of voyeurism..." said Raghu Ram, when asked about the show. The maximum prize for winning the show was inr 500000.

Contestants

Season 6

MTV Roadies: Hell Down Under is the sixth season of MTV Roadies, a reality television show aired on MTV India. The season 6 of roadies was also known as "Hell Down Under" because the second half of season took place in Australia and the tasks were reminiscent of Hell. The audition episodes were aired from 29 November 2008 and the journey episodes began airing on 10 January 2009. The actual journey of the selected Roadies started from 11 November 2008. Its auditions were held in various cities of India, like Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chandigarh. Following mob violence during Delhi auditions, roadies from Delhi and Mumbai were shortlisted through online auditions, followed by a Group Discussion and Interview. This is the first time in MTV Roadies history that Nikhil Chinapa was replaced by Raghu's identical twin brother, Rajiv Laxman. Roop Bhinder and Palak Johal returned as All-Stars for Roadies X - Battle for Glory. While Bhinder finished in 11th place Johal won the season.

Season 7

MTV Roadies 7 (advertised as ROADIES) is the seventh season of MTV Roadies, a popular weekly reality television show on MTV India. The season first aired on 8 November 2009 and is airing its annual "auditions" portion in which the contestants of the show are selected. Part of the season took place in Africa

List of Roadies

Season 8

MTV Roadies Shortcut To Hell is the eighth season of MTV Roadies, a reality television show aired on MTV India. The season 8 of roadies was also known as "Shortcut To Hell" as the second half of the season took place in Brazil. The audition episodes were aired from 22 January 2011 and the journey episodes began airing on 5 March 2011. Its auditions were held in various cities of India, like Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi and Pune. The audition is done by Raghu Ram, Rajiv Laxman and Rannvijay Singh. The title was won by Aanchal Khurana from Delhi. Avtar Nischal, Suchit Vikram Singh, and Mohit Saggar returned as All-Stars for Roadies X - Battle for Glory. Nischal withdrew in mid-season, Singh finished in 10th place and Saggar eventually placed as 2nd Runner-up.

Contestants

There were thirteen contestants overall.

Season 9

MTV Roadies 9 : Everything or Nothing is the ninth season of MTV Roadies, a reality television show aired on MTV India. The auditions started on 16 September from Pune following with Audition in Kolkata, Delhi, Chandhigarh and Hyderabad. Part of the season will take place in United States of America. The show started airing on MTV India from 7 January 2012 and every new episode aired on Saturdays at 7 p.m. IST. The series was won by Vikas Khoker from Chandigarh. He won the title on 30 June 2012 and walked away with a total cash prize of ₹ 617,000. Anirudh Sharma and Diyali Chauhan returned as All-Stars for Roadies X – Battle for Glory. Chauhan finished in 15th place and Sharma placed as 3rd Runner-up.

Contestants

There were thirteen contestants overall.

Season 10

MTV Roadies X : Battle for Glory is the tenth season of MTV Roadies, a reality television show aired on MTV India. The auditions started on 31 October 2012 and were held in Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. The show started airing on MTV India from 19 January 2013 with new episodes airing every Saturday at 7:00 pm IST. The series was won by veteran roadie Palak Johal, originally from Season 6, of Team Raghu. She won the title on 11 May 2013. Her grand price included a total cash price of ₹ 450,000, a Hero Impulse bike and an HP laptop.

Contestants

There were sixteen contestants overall.

Season 11

MTV Roadies X1 : Ride for Respect is the eleventh season of Indian reality show MTV Roadies. The show was hosted by Rannvijay Singh, who was also one of the judges, along with Raghu Ram, during personal interview rounds. It started airing on MTV India from 25 January 2014. The series was won by Nikhil Sachdeva (also popularly known as Nick). He won the title on 18 May 2014. His grand price included a Hero Impulse bike and a total cash price of ₹ 320,000.

Contestants

There are fourteen contestants selected from 4 cities.

Season 12

MTV Roadies X2 is the 12th season of Indian reality show MTV Roadies.

Contestants

There are twenty two contestants selected from 4 cities.

Season 13

MTV Roadies X4: Your Gang, Your Glory is the thirteenth season of Indian reality show MTV Roadies. The show is hosted by Gaelyn Mendonca. It started airing on MTV India from 20 February 2016. The audition episodes were aired from 20 February 2016 and the journey episodes began airing on 6 April 2016. Its auditions were held in various cities of India, like Chandigarh, Delhi, Pune and Lucknow. The auditions were taken by the four aspiring gang leaders – Rannvijay Singha, Karan Kundrra, Neha Dhupia and Sushil Kumar. After a prestigious finale, Balraj was crowned as the winner.

Contestants

There were originally 20 contestants at the beginning of the journey. Battleground winner contestant Benafsha Soonawalla entered in episode 6, and Shivangi Walia replaced Kavya Khurana in episode 9, bringing the total contestant number to 22.

Season 14

MTV Roadies Rising is the fourteenth season of Indian reality show MTV Roadies. The show is hosted by Gaelyn Mendonca. It started airing on MTV India from 25 February 2017. The auditions were taken by the four aspiring gang leaders - Rannvijay Singha, Karan Kundrra, Neha Dhupia and Prince Narula. Cricketer Harbhajan Singh is to play a crucial part. Later Nikhil Chinapa replaced Karan Kundrra as gang leader on the journey. Journey started on 8 April 2017 and Roadies Battleground was on 7 April 2017.

Season 15

MTV Roadies Xtreme is the fifteenth season of Indian reality show MTV Roadies. The show is hosted by Rannvijay Singha. It started airing on MTV India from 18 February 2018. The auditions were taken by Rannvijay Singha and the four aspiring gang leaders - Raftaar, Nikhil Chinapa, Neha Dhupia and Prince Narula and from this season, Rannvijay serves as a mentor and host.

Season 16

** MTV Roadies: Real Heroes** was the sixteenth season of the Indian reality show MTV Roadies, which premiered on MTV India from 10 February 2019. The audition were taken by Rannvijay Singha & the four returning gang leaders - Prince Narula, Nikhil Chinapa, Neha Dhupia and Raftaar along with new gang leader Sandeep Singh. Rannvijay continued to serve as a mentor and host, while Divya Agarwal and Varun Sood played the role of Roadies Insiders. Baseer Ali hosted the Voot segments with Shruti Sinha.

Season 17

MTV Roadies: Revolution is the seventeenth season of MTV Roadies, which premiered on MTV India from 15 February 2020. Prince Narula, Nikhil Chinapa, Neha Dhupia and Raftaar (Varun Sood replaced him mid season) returned as Leaders while Rannvijay Singh continues as the host. In this season, there is no gang leader nor any gang. The contestants are going to fight solo during their journey right from the beginning. In the previous seasons from Roadies X2 contestants are grouped into gangs under a gang leader to perform their tasks and they fight solo towards the end of the show. For the very first time, the show is being streamed on Voot 24hr before TV steaming platform a day before the TV which is made exclusively available only to Voot Select subscribers. After six episodes, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the show dates were postponed until further instructions from March 28. After three months, the show was resumed on June 27, 2020, onwards and telecasted new episodes. For the first time in Roadies history, Audition happened LIVE on social media platform during the COVID-19 Lock-down in India, from April 27 to June 17, where one auditionee won the chance to join the Roadies Journey.

Season 18

MTV Roadies: Journey in South Africa is the eighteenth season of India MTV Roadies produced by Pippip Media Private Limited. It premiered on MTV on 8 April 2022. A spin-off series, Roadies - All Access Star hosted by Gaelyn Mendonca and judged by Arjun Kanungo streamed exclusively on Voot. Participants will have to showcase their talent and even showcase their flair for general knowledge. The winner Nisman Parpia gets a fully paid five-day trip to South Africa, the opportunity to host her own digital show, witnessing the Roadies finale shoot and also gets an opportunity to host a Roadies after hours digital show. Like the previous season, the show was being streamed on Voot 24 hours before TV, exclusively available only to Voot Select subscribers. In addition to airing on MTV India, the premiere episode was simulcast across three other channels of Viacom18; Colors Infinity, Comedy Central India and MTV Beats, becoming the most-watched episode in the franchise's history. On 10 July 2022, Ashish Bhatia and Nandini G emerged as winners of the season, and for first time there were two winners. Jashwanth Bopanna and Yukti Arora were the first runners-up and Kevin Almasifar and Moose Jattana were 2nd runners-up.

Season 19