Whenever one thinks of unscripted actuality reveals on Indian tv, the primary names that come to thoughts are Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. The brothers have been the brains behind reveals like Roadies and Splitsvilla. They even launched Skulls and Roses and India’s Best Judwaah below their very own manufacturing home — Monozygotic Solutions.
Today, the duo has turned 46, and on their birthday, indianexpress.com spoke to Raghu and Rajiv about curating common actuality reveals, present traits and the criticism that got here their means.
Sharing that there was no single thought course of behind creating actuality reveals, Rajiv Lakshman mentioned, “There was so much happening internationally, but we were not aware of it. With time and the audience changing, MTV too was looking at an evolved identity, different from its countdown shows and comedy skits. Raghu and I have a certain kind of thinking which was very different from the producers at MTV. We came from a different background and with an extreme interest in experimentation. I think we were just in the right place and at the right time.”
Raghu Ram additional spoke in regards to the present development of actuality reveals, saying that on Indian tv, there are ‘the GEC shows, with shining floors and singing and dancing happening’ and ‘the unscripted MTV kind’. He mentioned, “Reality television has an advantage over fiction as it can be changed in response to the changing scenarios in the world. There is a certain kind of expectation from these shows, and it’s met every time. However, the formats haven’t evolved much. TV has enjoyed a monopoly for a long time, and with OTT platforms coming in, the game changed. It has caused a disruption, and I think television will have to up their game and get to a new level with their formats.”
Raghu additional mentioned that it’s as a result of the channels are scared to take dangers that the viewers has to look at season after season of the identical present. He added that one has to speak to the youngsters of right now because the youth is adapting to the change world wide. And by not catering to them, the channels are struggling. The artistic thoughts cheekily added that channels normally anticipate any person to do one thing totally different, and if it succeeds, they work round an analogous idea.
Given the brothers have interacted intently with the nation’s youth, we requested them in the event that they and their aspirations from a actuality present have additionally modified. “The youth has completely changed, and with social media, the battle lines have been drawn. Earlier, if you wanted to showcase your talent, you had to go through the gatekeepers, who were more like demons. However, now the bottleneck has been done away with. They can now be on any platform, showcase their talent and be the influencer they always wanted to be,” answered Rajiv Lakshman.
Echoing his Rajiv’s ideas, Raghu added, “Reality television shows are in a danger of losing the youth.” He went on to elucidate that the way in which we love, combat, argue, work together or react has modified, and thus a season 25 of a present gained’t speak to the identical viewers. “While yes, the hangover of being on TV will always remain, these kids already have a million followers. The danger right now is of becoming obsolete. It’s actually no big deal that you make a certain number of seasons. It’s about creating edgy content.”
Raghu Ram has all the time been on the receiving finish of criticism and trolling. Sharing that it was a part of his job, he mentioned, “I gave them the impression that I was still in charge of my life. And I think given my beliefs, I will always be called controversial as it is against the norms. Also, on social media, I think everyone gets a lot of hate in general, so it didn’t bother me much. It only made me believe that I was doing my job well. As for the memes, it just goes on to say that I did leave an impact.”
Interestingly, Rajiv Lakshman, for the longest time, labored behind the digital camera. Given Raghu was already receiving backlash from a sure part, we puzzled how he handled it when he determined to come back on display screen. The birthday boy said that whereas he has all the time welcomed criticism, he shut off every kind of hatred. “My parents would get affected initially as for them we are these soft-spoken, good boys. They would think why people think otherwise about us. Once I had taken them for a concert, and a woman came up to my mother, and, in quite a loaded tone, questioned her about us. My mother simply said that she was proud of us. That made me carefree as these are the only opinions that matter to us,” shared Rajiv.
Their authentic sequence Skulls and Roses and India’s Best Judwaah didn’t see the sort of success, many would have anticipated it to. On requested if that deterred them in any means, Rajiv mentioned, “In short no, and in an elaborate tone, we have worked on many shows over the years, and figured out the insight or hook to grasp the audience. Sometimes the platform doesn’t work, sometimes other things. But one has to keep thinking and creating.”
And rightly so, the twins are at the moment engaged on a actuality present that may stream on one of many OTT giants. “We cannot talk much about it, but we will soon start casting for it. I am really excited about it as it’s an evolution for us also as we re-calibrate and re-learn to tell different stories. We are really happy to foray into this new project, and if we manage to pull off, it will start a new trend,” concluded Raghu Ram.