The Nepali edition of the popular Indian reality TV show MTV Roadies—titled Himalaya Roadies—was launched amid a function on Sunday, Jan 22 at Kathmandu. The show which will begin its audition in five cities around the country from March will go on air on Himalaya Television from June.

MTV Roadies, which has proven to be one of the biggest reality shows in South Asia, with thousands of contestant and audiences for over a decade, is a show often associated with the youth and a reflection of the attitude of adventurists. In the show, a group of contestants travel to different destinations and participate in various tasks that challenge their physical and mental strength. During the course of the journey, there are vote outs, vote ins, eliminations and game changing twists. Eventually, the contestant who manages to survive vote outs and succeeds in the final task is chosen as the winner.

Speaking at the event, director of the show Aman Pratap Adhikary said, “This is an exciting time when an international franchise of such magnitude is being brought to national television. This will help Nepali production values meet international standard.” He added, “There are many instances when Nepali participates go to India to take part in these kind of shows but now they will get the same opportunity here, so this is great chance for those interested as well as us, show makers, to prove ourselves in the international arena.”

The 18-episode series themed Rising Through Hell will have actress Deeya Maskey, media personality and actor Raymon Das Shrestha and rapper Aasis Rana, popularly known as Laure, as the judges. Speaking about the theme director Adhikary said, “The contestants will have to go through lots of obstacles and hurdles, which will be akin to going through hell and to win they must rise above it all, so our theme is Rising Through Hell.”

The winner of the show will bag a cash purse of Rs 20 lakh and a Bajaj Avenger.

The registrations forms for the show whose audition will take place at Pokhara on March 1, Butwal on March 4, Chitwan on March 6, Dharan on March 9 and Kathmandu on 13 and 14 March are available at Bajaj showrooms, Ncell centres and Nepal SBI Bank branches all over Nepal.