Rajeev: Perception is not my problem -- it exists and is possibly the toughest animal to fight. Roadies is Raghu's show and has been so long that the show and Raghu have both shaped each other's personalities!

I have similar traits, but no matter what I say, comparisons will be drawn, and they will be unfavourable to me. But it doesn't bother me -- we are both extensions of one another at some level.

Raghu: I can't account for people's perceptions, so I don't know. As far as I can see, he has an individual personality. Yes, there are similarities, but he brings stuff to the table that I never could. His observations are very cutting; I'm less tactful than him and he has a wicked sense of humour. Other than our looks, I don't think he's an extension of me.

Otherwise, it was bound to happen, no? The marketing will be focused towards using the fact that we're twins, to make it seem like we're two of a kind, but that's only limited to the marketing.

And then many siblings have similar personalities. In twins, it's a bit more, and even more in identical twins. But there are differences, of course.

Splitsvilla -- with it's theme of having 20 girls compete for the affections of two guys -- was criticised on the grounds that the concept goes against Indian values. Can you comment on that?

Raghu: Who are these people? Who are the owners of Indian culture? Don't talk about Indian culture -- it's my pet hate. Who said this? It must be Muthalik, and of course, he must be right!

This is just an excuse for bigotry, violence and power mongering. We had kings with harems in our culture -- the most famous structure built by a man for a woman is the Taj Mahal, built by a man who had a harem of 3000 women and spent his life sobbing after the one that died.

You know, we don't allow the kids to smoke or drink on the show -- I think I'm much better than these people! Isn't it better than crazy things like honour killings, where they murder their own children if they marry someone of their own choice?

Rajeev: What's un-Indian about it? Indian kings had harems; polygamy was part of Indian society too. I'm not saying Splitsvilla is either like a harem situation or a polygamous one, but if those things were accepted, why not this show? And then what's cultural about any TV show?

We're here to make youth television. The youth and MTV share a symbiotic relationship. They both affect one another. Unlicensed thrill, romance and style are some aspects that are huge among the youth. So our shows will reflect that.

It's true that we are pushing the boundaries on many moral standards but I will not entertain views of our shows being against Indian culture. And its also rubbish that if you show the youth something on TV they will immediately go out and emulate it. They are far too clever for that!

Caption: Filming of the controversial new reality show on MTV, Splitsvilla, gets underway.

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