Ayushmann Khurrana admits he hasn’t watched the reality show, which made him famous, for the past several years
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 9, 2017)

Few might recall that the charming and humble Ayushmann Khurrana made his entertainment debut with a controversial reality show that many deem rather aggressive. Though the Delhi boy, then 20, won the second season of MTV Roadies in 2004, he terms participants of the recent seasons, “absolute jerks.”

In the midst of promotions for his upcoming film, Meri Pyaari Bindu, featuring Parineeti Chopra, Khurrana tells mid-day, “Some of them [Roadies contestants] are truly adventurous, but others are absolute jerks. It’s a mixed bag. The change was evident, even when I turned host for them.”

The selection of candidates in recent seasons, says the actor, has been done in a manner that boosts TRPs. “They deliberately choose vulnerable people so that friction is inevitable. During my season, we were eight nerds who went to National Law School and London School of Economics after the show. We were responsible. Thus, nobody watched our show. That triggered them to pick backbenchers and notorious people instead.”

Even though Khurrana doesn’t watch the show anymore, he couldn’t help reminisce about filming it in Kolkata, when he visited the city recently to shoot for Akshay Roy’s romantic comedy. “I was shooting for Bindu for a month in Kolkata, where we had flagged off Roadies. When we went to the town, Shantiniketan, I remember having been mesmerised by the earthen beauty of the place in the past,” he says, quick to admit that given a chance, he’d never do the show again. “I did Roadies to become an actor. Now that I am here, I would never want to go back."