Raghu Ram is an Indian television producer and actor. He is famous for judging the TV reality show MTV Roadies.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Raghu was born on Tuesday, 15 April 1975 (age 49 years; as of 2024), in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He has a twin brother, Rajiv Lakshman. His zodiac sign is Aries. He did his schooling from J.D. Tytler Kindergarten up to 1st class, Chinmaya Vidyalaya from class 2nd to class 8th, and Delhi Tamil Education Association up to class 12th. He completed his graduation from three different colleges: Deshbandhu College, Delhi (1st Year), Sri Venkateswara College, New Delhi (2nd Year) and Osmania University, Hyderabad (3rd Year).
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Weight (approx.): 70 Kg
Hair Colour: Bald
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements (approx.): Chest 38″, Waist 30″, Biceps 13”
Family, Caste & Wife
Raghu belongs to a Hindu Brahmin family. His father, Viswanath Ambadapudi, is a chartered accountant, and his mother, Radha Viswanath is a famous journalist and author. He has a twin brother Rajiv Lakshman who is an actor and TV presenter. Raghu has a younger sister, Supriya Nistala.
In 2006, Raghu Ram got married to his girlfriend, Sugandha Garg. She has worked in the Bollywood movie ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na,’ (2008). After a decade of their marriage, they decided to part ways and got separated in 2016. In 2018, they got divorced from each other.
In 2018, he got married to his girlfriend, Natalie Di Luccio. She hails from Canada, and she is a singer by profession.
Raghu and Natalie were blessed with a baby boy on 6 January 2020, and they named him ‘Rhythm.’
Career
After graduating, he joined TV18 Group as an intern. He has also worked in a travel show on BBC Channel. Later, he joined MTV India, where he supervised the talk show ‘MTV Love Line’ with VJs Malaika Arora Khan and Cyrus Broacha.
He gave the suggestion of starting ‘MTV Roadies’ as an experimental project. Its second season gained popularity, and it became one of the longest-running TV reality shows on Indian Television. Later, he was appointed as the senior supervising producer of MTV India and the executive producer of Roadies. In 2010, he acted in the movies: Tees Maar Khan (2010) and Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010).
He lent his voice to the Roadies song ‘Manmaani,’ and it was nominated for the ‘Best Singer Award’ at the GIMA Awards 2012.
In 2014, he announced that he wouldn’t be associated with Roadies from season X2. He launched a webcam fiction show- ‘A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend (2016)’ which was aired on ‘Arre,’ an online web content platform.
In 2017, he launched the TV reality show ‘Dropout Pvt Ltd,’ on MTV India. He also appeared in a TV comedy show ‘Comedy Nights Bachao (2015-2017)’ on Colors TV.
In 2019, Amazon Prime Video reality show ‘Skulls & Roses’ was launched by Raghu and his brother Rajiv.
Controversies
- In 2011, some activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Pune, blackened the faces of Raghu, Rajiv Laxman, and Rannvijay Singh for using abusive language on their TV show, MTV Roadies.
- In 2014, he was allegedly attacked in Varanasi by some ABVP activists again for supporting the ‘Aam Aadmi Party.’
- In 2017, ‘AIB Knockout’ (a celebrity roast adaptation presented by the creative agency All India Bakchod) organised a controversial show in which Raghu participated. The Maharashtra Government filed a case against the organisers and participants for using foul language and spreading vulgarity.
Favourite Things
- Food: Chinese, Moong dal halwa and Tea
- Actor(s): Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar
- Actress: Madhuri Dixit
- Books: Usain Bolt’s autobiography, Mary Kom’s autobiography
Facts
- Reportedly, a lady from Andhra Pradesh named Venkata Subamma had predicted to his grandfather that after a year, he would have twin grandsons, Ram and Laxman.
- According to Raghu, he was a shy kid and his classmates and seniors used to bully him and his brother in the school.
- In 2004, Raghu Ram auditioned for the singing reality TV show ‘Indian Idol’ as a contestant but got rejected.
- He published his autobiography, ‘Raghu-Rearview: My Roadies Journey’ in 2013.
- In 2014, he founded the company ‘Monozygotics.’
- In his autobiography, he has mentioned that he is considered as the rudest man on Indian Television.
- His hobbies include singing and travelling.
- He supports the Indian political party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
- MTV VJ Rannvijay Singh is one of his best friends.
- He spends his leisure time with his pet dog.
- He loves reading books, and he has a good collection of it.
- In 2019, in a social media post, he shared the news that Natalie Di Luccio, his second wife was pregnant.
- While giving an interview in November 2024, he said that he was referred to as the “most abusive guy” by the family of his wife due to his image being created following his appearance on MTV Roadies as a judge, where he was often involved in using harsh language while dealing with the contestants.