Himalaya Roadies—the Nepali edition of the popular Indian reality TV show MTV Roadies—has roared off with the first episode airing across the nation on Monday. In the first of 18 episodes, the Himalaya Roadies-Rising Through Hell made a foray into Nepali TV screens with the airing of the Pokhara audition round of the show.

MTV Roadies, which has proven to be one of the biggest reality shows in South Asia, with thousands of contestant and audiences, 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.

Envisioned in the same format, Himalaya Roadies travelled to five different cities—Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dharan, Chitwan and Butwal—where approximately 10,000 aspiring contestants were vetted by judges rapper—Lauhre (Asish Rana), actor Deeya Maskey and media personality Raymon Das Shrestha.

For the first episode, the contestants who flocked to the Pokhara auditions held on March 1 this year were put through a series of gruelling tests, before a select 18 contestants faced the three judges in one-on-one sessions. At the session they were judged for physical endurance and tolerance but also asked testing questions like their views on homosexuality and the caste system. Eventually, four contestants—Animesh Shahi, Menuka Tamang, Suzana Shrestha and Reshma Nhuchhen Pradhan-were selected to continue on in the show.

Speaking about the production and the behind-the-scenes efforts that went into bringing Himalaya Roadies to screen, the show’s director Aman Pratap Adhikary said, “It feels great to be airing a spin-off of such a popular franchise here in Nepal. Because MTV Roadies is such a hugely popular show, the onus was on us to create a show whose content and style mirrors the original. We had to be very particular about the quality.”

Adhikary, who travelled to Mumbai to work closely with the directors of MTV Roadies in preparation for the Nepali edition, said that the first five episodes of the series would trace the five audition rounds held in March, before moving into the journey-round, where the contestants will travel to a new destination every episode and partake in various challenges along the way. “The goal of the auditions, however, was not to identify the best riders; the goal was to identify the best characters that would give the show depth and varied layers.” In the journey round, the contestant will be traversing through vastly different terrains in the mountains, the hills and the Tarai.

“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,” Adhikari added.

The winner of the show will bag a cash purse of up to Rs 2 million and a Bajaj Avenger.

The show is a part of the Roadies franchise licensed by Viacom 18, and airs every Monday at 8pm on Himalaya TV.