Exclusive - Rannvijay Singha on the success of Shark Tank India: When it started people questioned if it would work, but soon it became the most talked about show of the country

Rannvijay Singha, who was seen hosting Shark Tank India, recently garnered a lot of attention on social media when a video of him offering an MBA course to an entrepreneur contestant went viral. The video clip sparked a meme fest on the internet. In the video, Rannvijay can be seen offering an MBA course to the entrepreneur, who arrived as a participant in the show. The entrepreneur is an IIT-PhD and being offered an MBA degree on the educational platform got him heavily trolled. Rannvijay for the first time in an exclusive chat with ETimes TV has reacted to the viral memes and the video clip becoming a hot topic on the internet. The host-turned-actor shared that he has done Roadies and Splistvilla and by now he used to spoofs and memes on him.

"I’ve done Splitsvilla and Roadies and by now I am used to memes, spoofs. The amount and the level of spoofs that were done on us, people can’t even imagine. In fact, some of them actually made a platform out of it. The first spoof that was made on us by a streaming platform, it gave that platform recognition. I know this as I like to keep myself current. When Michael Jordan cried they memes on it, he became current. He is the guy who I follow for many reasons. When a meme is made on you it means you are doing something which is getting noticed and you are current. I know that it is my job as a host on that show and I’ve to do it. I am not there to judge that if you have three other degrees, I should give you this or I shouldn't. As per the concept of the show it is the Sharks who decide that you should be given this. Another point is that there are many engineers, who also do an MBA, it is not connected but it’s because they want to cover all their bases. You can do an MBA or engineering from the biggest institutes but you might not know a lot about digital marketing. There’s a possibility. Like I don’t know anything about law but if someone offers me a law degree I would love to do it. Because I want to know the contracts I am getting into. I always think that law is one thing that I’d always wanted to do. A person who is well educated, that person will always understand the value of an extra degree or education," said the actor.

Rannvijay finds the memes very funny and says it is the best thing that can happen to a new show, "It’s actually funny. I won't deny that somebody is from IIT, you are giving them a course in something else. Meme means that people are so involved in the show and they are watching the show and know everything about that person. I like that factor and it keeps me current. It’s giving me an opportunity for the media to ask me a question and express myself. People found that moment funny and meme worthy and I don’t feel bad about it because I’ve seen a lot during the early stage of my career when I was 20-23 and had just started doing Roadies. People were trying to ban the shows we were doing, people wouldn’t allow the auditions of our shows in the city to happen. Memes are the best thing that can happen to a new show, that's what I feel. Because other people who don’t watch the show, they get their attention as well towards our show. I feel once you start taking jokes on yourself, you can lead a very peaceful life. I love watching the amount of creativity that people put in while creating these memes," he shared.

(Photo: Instagram)

The former Roadies host is not at all affected by the trolling and shares that he enjoys reading the memes, "I don’t take myself very seriously. I feel blessed and grateful that I am getting opportunities to do what I want in life and I’ve the resources to take care of my family. It’s fun and I enjoy these memes and I feel you have to be open ended. I meet a lot of youngsters during Roadies or other shows and I always tell them that whatever you do in life and how much ever a big superstar you become, stay grounded and don’t take yourself very seriously. Sometimes, there are things and work in life you do that creates a great impact on people and inspires others. My focus is always to live better and help more people in real life. Through Roadies or Splitsvilla and the other shows I’ve done, when young kids come and tell me that I’ve changed their life as they weren't go-getters, or became fit because of me, that is the real thing for me."

(Photo: Instagram)

The good-looking actor, who has hosted several youth shows on Indian Television and has been the face of reality series like Roadies and Splitsvilla, is super proud of his association with Shark Tank. He revealed that he has been a huge fan of the show, "I’ve always done projects which I personally like doing. I’ve been a fan of Shark Tank for the last 10-15 years. As a TV guy a lot of people asked me which show do you watch in your free time, I would always say Shark Tank. I’ve a lot of interest in business and not many are aware that I’ve been investing in business for the past 8-9 years. I’ve invested in 20 different companies which are doing really well and probably this is one of the reasons for me coming on board on Shark Tank. When they asked me if I wanted to host the show, I’d not hosted any show on GEC before and I don’t think I would have said yes if it was not Shark Tank because I was always interested in the show. If you see the show in other countries there’s no host, the reason they got me is because they wanted people watching the show to understand the Indian market, entrepreneurs, the mass understanding business, percentage, equity. They wanted a person who could put across stories and interviews of people coming on the show and also make them at ease and give them confidence."

(Photo: Instagram)

Talking about his experience of doing Shark Tank, Rannvijay shared, "Initially, when the show started people asked what it is and questioned if it would work. But in no time it became the most talked about show in the country. It’s not like it has become popular after five or eight seasons. It’s a very positive and constructive show. I am very proud that I was a part of the show and we were around these young entrepreneurs and their families, everyone with a business mind. We would spend two-three days backstage with them, chat and encourage them. Then hanging out with the Sharks and chatting with them like Aman Gupta once told me that he liked watching Roadies and I wanted to be like this or that and the entire atmosphere was totally different. On other sets I would talk about different things but here we would chat about companies and I would share about my investments. I am very proud of doing this show."

The actor is currently hosting another show and it is again very different from his previous one, "Another show I am very proud of is an adventure based show in which I got a chance to visit India’s seven prominent national parks. My Instagram account is full of pictures. I saw not just Safaris but met the forest officers, rangers, tribals, villagers. How they stay and how they are contributing in increasing the eco-system and how they are supporting the wildlife. I have visited all the National Parks and I feel at any stage of your life you should not feel I’ve done enough. I like to keep challenging myself and doing different things," he concluded.