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Life after the reality series has never been the same again for Rannvijay Singh. KUSHNEET KUKREJA talks to the much-sought after MTV VJ to find out what keeps him ticking…

An ex-Roadie, a VJ, an actor and now even a director… all this just by the age of 28. Now, that is what we call achieving through hard work and determination. Respected by the guys and absolutely adored by the girls, Rannvijay Singh has an inspiring personality. His favourite holiday destination is Leh and his favourite Indian bike is the Karizma ZMR — what an amazing combination! Here’s a peek into what goes on inside the brain of this hunk…

If given a choice between Roadies and movies, what would you choose?

Roadies, anytime.

How has your journey been so far as part of the Roadies team?

Being a Roadie is a lot of fun. There is no real responsibility that you have like ‘you have to do a task’, ‘you have to behave in a certain way’. Nothing like that. So, while I was on Roadies, I had a wonderful time. I didn’t care about how I looked or how I reacted to situations. Anything that I did or anyway in which I behaved was Season 1. That’s how it is for Roadies. In Season 2, I was already a winner and my life had changed. I was a host for MTV India and I was getting paid for it. It was a job that I had to do well. I couldn’t say anything and get away with it. I had to say stuff that was needed for the show. I had to see that the tasks were possible to do, by doing them myself and then explaining to the roadies how to do it in a limited period of time. A lot of responsibilities came with the job. It is still fun but it is much more work and it is really difficult to actually make Roadies than to be a Roadie. Life has changed a lot for me. Over the past seven-eight years, I have been living in Mumbai away from my family. The journey has been hectic but wonderful.

According to you, which one was the most challenging tasks from all the seasons of Roadies?

One of the most challenging ones was Roadies 6 Finale task between Kiri and Nauman. I did it with 20 kg and they did it with 5 kg. That one was very, very tough. Even the bullock cart one was really difficult.

You have worked with superstars like Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan in “London Dreams” and then Aishwarya Rai Bachhan and Akshay Kumar in “Action Replay”. How was the experience?

“London Dreams” was a party. We were in London for 45 days. Aditya Roy Kapoor, or Adi, as I call him, and me are like brothers. He was also there with me in “Action Replay”. We were the kids on the set and everybody took great care of us, especially Salman Bhai. The weather was nice and cold. We had a blast.

For “Action Replay”, we were shooting in Karjat and it was really hot. Like everybody else, I was wearing a wig. Basically, all of us were really unhappy to wear the silky 1970s shirts and the wig. It was not an easy shoot. We were staying at a farm house, just outside Karjat. All of us used to play cricket after pack up. Akshay and Aishwarya helped me during all the scenes, especially the dance-off I have with Akshay. It was difficult to be the bully to him, somebody who is 20 years senior to me and then ask him to take off his shirt. All that needed support from them and all of them gave their 150 per cent. They are all really cool people. No airs about being superstars.

Tell us something about your upcoming projects…..

There’s another four months of Roadies 8 and I am hosting Stuntmania. I will be doing stunts at the end of every episode. I have a movie with Tandav Films, who also did “Khosla ka Ghosla”. Then, there is a movie called “Ekant” and the latest one is a movie with Nagesh Kukunoor. Also, there is a Punjabi film called “Dharti”, which released on April 22.

What would you say was a life-changing experience for you?

I guess during the second year of college, when due to a few incidents I was asked to leave the hostel and I had to stay with my chachi. Her two sons are five years younger than me and every day, it was like these two youngsters were looking up to me. My chachi would say “What a spoilt brat you are! You’ll spoil my kids.” That whole year was life-changing. I did pretty well at everything after that.

Now, for your thousands and thousands of female fans, describe your type of girl.

Yaar, women are doing so well these days. They are so confident and the beauty of it is that each one of them is different. My type of girl would be somebody who understands me (which I must say is not easy), who is okay with the kind of energy I have and who doesn’t expect me to change. I am not asking for much (winks!).

You are a youth icon and a lot of youngsters are inspired by you….

I have to act so responsibly because of these lines. I can’t be myself (laughs). As a youth icon, you have some responsibility and you have to conduct yourself in a certain manner.

So, what would you advise them?

Have your own way of leading life. Make your own mistakes and learn from them. Respect your parents and I would say invest in people. There is no point in staying aloof.

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