Raghu Ram Opens Up On Quitting Roadies, Says, 'It Doesn’t Own My A** And Never Has'

MTV Roadies is all set for its 19th season. Its previous and current presenters, including Nikhil Chinnapa, Ranvijay Singha, Raghu Ram, Rajiv Ram, Neha Dhupia, Prince Narula and others, deserve a great deal of recognition for making the show a huge hit. Despite the show's popularity, Raghu abruptly ended it in 2009, leaving his followers perplexed as to why.

Now, the host has opened up and spoken about it. He said in a conversation in Indian Express, "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," said Raghu.

Raghu revealed, "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, and 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," said Raghu.