MTV Roadies 7.0 saga continues

The MTV Roadies 7.0 saga continues. The previous versions of roadies were simpler and more clear-cut. The roadies were selected directly from the auditions. It was worthwhile watching the expression of joy lighting up the faces of the aspirants as the VJ announced that they were chosen as the roadie. That was then. Now, this year's Roadies seems to be a totally different matter.

Perhaps the producers are looking to lengthen the duration of the show or maybe they are trying to choose the toughest of the tough as contestants for this journey, whatever said and done, there is a new hurdle that the aspirants have to undergo before being finally selected as a roadie. This new twist is called Ride with Ranvijay, where our aspirants embark on a journey with the dashing Ranvijay to prove their mettle, to prove to the world that yes they too can be a roadie.

Ride with Ranvijay is no different than the ordinary Roadies tasks, the contestants are split into different teams and tasks are assigned. One has to acknowledge the ingenuity of the tasks that the producers come up with. If you have watched the previous Roadies episodes, you will realize that while some of the tasks are challenging yet kept at the sensible level, some others are downright bizarre. Those who have watched the MTV Roadies 6.0 episodes might recall the task where the guys where chained to a flag post and punished with a sharp rap between their legs with a device attached to the flag post, for every wrong answer from their team mates. One hopes to see many more of such extremely bizarre and ingenious tasks from the producers of the show.

MTV Roadies 7.0 has finally come out with the list of their 14 Roadies who will be competing against each other for the prize money and the opportunity to travel to South Africa. To select the final 14 out of the 18 who rode with Ranvijay, 9 teams were formed and then they were given the task of getting to a destination 60 kms away without any bikes or money. The contestants had the option of walking, hitch hiking or even flying to reach the destination. The first 7 teams who reached would be the Roadies and the last two would be just riders who had a shot at making it as a Roadie but failed miserably.

The tasks that the riders were subjected to were as intense as the usual Roadies challenges that television viewers have grown so used to. The usual bitching, name calling and controversies are all part and parcel of this show as well. With the kind of mud slinging, trading of insults and humiliation that seem to be an integral part of the show, one cannot help but wonder what it is that the contestants hope to achieve by volunteering to go through such an immensely life altering experience. Being talked down and bitched about on national television is no mean thing, and the roadies contestants have their share or fame, rather notoriety, albeit for a short while.

If you want to take a look into the psychology of reality show contestants and what really goes on in the minds of producers and other crew members, grab the novel Überstar (www.uberstarthebook.com) by the Australian author Vaughn Alaine-Marshall. Reality shows are the same everywhere, the contestants aspire to achieve something through the show, fame, money or other such things, but do they really succeed?

The novel is honest and was written based on the accounts given by several reality show contestants who told their story to Alaine-Marshall. An enjoyable read for all reality show fans, while waiting for the next episode of MTV Roadies 7.0