Raghu Ram Biography: MTV Roadies Creator, Producer and Actor

Quick answer: Raghu Ram (Raghu Ram Ambadapudi) is an Indian television producer, actor and creator, widely credited with creating MTV Roadies, which launched on MTV India in 2003. He produced Roadies and MTV Splitsvilla with his twin brother Rajiv Lakshman until they left Roadies in 2014. He has since acted in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films and made web shows such as Netflix’s IRL: In Real Love.

Who is Raghu Ram?

Raghu Ram is best known to a generation of viewers as the tough, outspoken face of the MTV Roadies auditions in the show’s early years. Behind the camera, he was a producer at MTV India, where he and his identical twin, Rajiv Lakshman, ran two of the channel’s biggest youth reality shows, Roadies and Splitsvilla. After leaving MTV, the twins started their own content company, and Raghu moved increasingly into acting, often in villain roles in South Indian films.

Raghu Ram: profile at a glance

• Full name: Raghu Ram Ambadapudi
• Born: 15 April 1975 (51 as of October 2026). Sources disagree on his birthplace: his Wikipedia entry gives Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in one place and New Delhi in another.
• Twin brother: Rajiv Lakshman (also spelt Laxman)
• Education: Deshbandhu College and Sri Venkateswara College in Delhi, then a degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad
• Occupation: television producer, creator, director and actor
• Known for: creating and producing MTV Roadies; producing MTV Splitsvilla
• Spouse: singer Natalie Di Luccio (married 2018); earlier married to actor Sugandha Garg (2006; divorce finalised in 2018)
• Children: a son, born in January 2020

An earlier version of this article gave his age as 40 and listed a height, which have been removed. It also said he and Rajiv studied at Woodstock School in Landour; sources disagree about his schooling, so that claim has been left out. Details about his parents and sister, which we could not verify, have also been removed.

Career at MTV India

Raghu Ram started at MTV India supervising shows such as MTV Love Line, and he launched MTV Select and early seasons of MTV Super Select. He is widely credited with the idea for MTV Roadies, an adventure reality show in which young contestants travel across India and abroad and compete in tasks. The first season aired in 2003.

As executive producer, he and Rajiv Lakshman ran Roadies for eleven seasons. Raghu became a familiar face through the show’s audition rounds, where he interviewed hopefuls on camera. The twins also produced MTV Splitsvilla, the dating reality show that began in 2008. They left Roadies in 2014, after the eleventh season. For every season’s champion, see our MTV Roadies winners list.

Raghu Ram also wrote about his years on the show in his book Rearview: My Roadies Journey, published by Rupa Publications in 2013.

An earlier version of this article described Roadies as “an Indian version of the original show, Road Rules”. We could not confirm that Roadies is a licensed version of MTV’s American series Road Rules, so that line has been removed.

Monozygotic: life after Roadies

In August 2014, Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman launched Monozygotic, a content and communications company, with marketing professional Ravi Luthra as chief executive. The company was set up to create content for television, digital platforms and live events, drawing on the twins’ experience with shows such as Roadies, Splitsvilla and MasterChef India. An earlier version of this article spelt the company “Monozygotics”.

Since then, Raghu Ram’s television and web work has included:

• A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend (2016): a web series on the Arre platform.
• Skulls & Roses (2019): an Amazon Prime Video reality show, with Rajiv.
• IRL: In Real Love (2023): a Netflix dating reality show he created and directed.
• Jamnapaar (2024): an Amazon miniTV series.

Films

Raghu and Rajiv made their film debuts in 2010, appearing as the Johari brothers in Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan, starring Akshay Kumar. The same year, Raghu appeared in Abbas Tyrewala’s Jhootha Hi Sahi, starring John Abraham. In recent years he has worked mainly in South Indian cinema, often as the antagonist:

• Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010, Hindi)
• Tees Maar Khan (2010, Hindi)
• Doctor (2021, Tamil): his Tamil debut, as an antagonist
• Keedaa Cola (2023, Telugu): his Telugu debut
• Mechanic Rocky (2024, Telugu)
• Good Bad Ugly (2025, Tamil) and Mirai (2025, Telugu), as an antagonist in both

He has also sung. An IBTimes India profile reported that he was nominated for a GiMA (Global Indian Music Academy) award in 2012 for his song “Manmani”; we could not confirm the exact category.

Personal life

Raghu Ram married actor Sugandha Garg, known for films such as Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, in 2006. The couple announced their separation in 2016, and the divorce was finalised in 2018. He married singer Natalie Di Luccio in 2018, and their son was born in January 2020. An earlier version of this article described him as still married to Sugandha Garg, which is out of date.

More Roadies profiles

Read our biographies of fellow Roadies faces Rannvijay Singh Singha, Prince Narula and VJ Bani (Bani J).

Raghu Ram on social media

• Raghu Ram Facebook
• Raghu Ram Wikipedia

Frequently asked questions

Who created MTV Roadies?

Raghu Ram is widely credited with creating MTV Roadies, which launched in 2003. He and his twin brother, Rajiv Lakshman, produced the show until 2014.

Is Raghu Ram still on Roadies?

No. Raghu and Rajiv left Roadies in 2014, after the show’s eleventh season. Later seasons have been produced without them.

Who is Raghu Ram’s wife?

He married singer Natalie Di Luccio in 2018. His earlier marriage to actor Sugandha Garg ended in divorce in 2018.

Are Raghu and Rajiv twins?

Yes. Rajiv Lakshman is Raghu Ram’s identical twin, and the two worked together on Roadies, Splitsvilla and their company, Monozygotic.

Which films has Raghu Ram acted in?

His films include Tees Maar Khan and Jhootha Hi Sahi (both 2010), and South Indian films such as Doctor (2021), Keedaa Cola (2023), Good Bad Ugly and Mirai (both 2025).

Details checked in October 2026 against his Wikipedia entry and its cited sources, indiantelevision.com’s 2014 report on Monozygotic, and the MTV Roadies season record. Personal details that could not be verified have been removed.