MTV Roadies REBIRTH — the franchise's 21st season — has confirmed on-ground auditions in Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Pune this September, with Rannvijay Singha back as host. Exact per-city dates haven't dropped yet, but here's everything locked in so far, plus the questions the audition panel is known for asking.
What's confirmed about Roadies REBIRTH auditions?
The season was officially announced on August 28, 2026, with a title reveal built around a phoenix — a nod to "rebirth" as the show's new chapter after two decades on air. Along with the announcement, the makers confirmed the four cities: Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Pune. What's still pending is the precise date-by-date schedule for each stop; multiple entertainment outlets covering the reveal noted that dates are "expected to be announced soon," so treat any specific date you see circulating online as unofficial until MTV or JioHotstar post it directly.
This follows straight on from Roadies XX: Double Cross, which wrapped its finale with Kushal Tanwar ("Gullu") — part of Elvish Yadav's gang — taking the trophy, a bike, and the season's cash prize. We've covered what that finale result means heading into REBIRTH separately.
How do you actually apply?
The process hasn't changed much across recent seasons, and it's almost entirely app/website driven before you ever reach a physical audition line:
- Register online — through the JioHotstar app or MTV India's official channels, using the Roadies audition banner when it goes live.
- Fill in your details — name, age, city, contact info, and social handles.
- Upload a self-introduction video — usually a 60-second clip that functions as your first-round filter.
- Wait for shortlisting — if selected, you get a call or message with your ground-audition slot in one of the four cities.
The registration itself is free. That matters, because it's the single most reliable way to tell a real audition call from a fake one.
How should you shoot the self-introduction video?
The self-tape is where most applications quietly die, and it's the one stage you have complete control over. A few things worth getting right:
Shoot it in one take if you can. Heavily edited videos with cuts every three seconds read as a reel, not an audition. The panel is trying to see whether you can hold a thought and hold a camera's attention at the same time.
Frame yourself properly and light your face. Vertical is fine, but shoot in a quiet room with light in front of you rather than a window behind you. Clean audio matters more than resolution — if they can't hear you, nothing else in the video counts.
Lead with something specific about you, not a greeting. "Hi, my name is X and I'm from Y, I love adventure" is the most common opening and the most forgettable one. A concrete thing you've actually done, said in your own voice, does more work in ten seconds than a minute of adjectives.
Speak in whichever language you're most natural in. Hindi, English, or a mix — the show has always run on all three. Performing fluency you don't have reads worse than speaking comfortably.
Don't script it word for word. Know the two or three things you want to land, then talk. Memorised delivery is obvious on camera and it's the opposite of what this format selects for.
How do you avoid fake Roadies audition scams?
Every season brings a wave of fake casting calls, and Roadies is a frequent target because the applicant pool is young and eager. A few rules that hold regardless of season:
- Nobody legitimate charges you. Not a registration fee, not a "shortlisting" fee, not a refundable security deposit. If money is being asked for, it isn't the show.
- Verify the source, not the message. Announcements go out through MTV India's and JioHotstar's own official handles and the JioHotstar app. A WhatsApp forward, an Instagram DM, or a lookalike page is not confirmation, however official the graphic looks.
- Be suspicious of specific dates right now. As of this writing the per-city schedule genuinely hasn't been released, so anything circulating with exact venue-and-time detail is either a guess or bait.
- Don't hand over documents to an intermediary. Your ID goes to the production at the audition, not to someone promising to get you in.
What are the eligibility requirements?
- Age: 18–30 years old as of the audition date.
- Citizenship/ID: Indian citizens with valid government ID (Aadhaar, Voter ID, or Passport).
- Fitness: Roadies tasks are physically and mentally demanding, so a real baseline of endurance matters more than gym-selfie aesthetics.
Worth planning for rather than discovering on the day: carry the original ID plus a photocopy, keep the phone number you registered with reachable, and assume you'll be on your feet outdoors for hours. Ground auditions draw large crowds and run long, so eat beforehand and carry water. If you're travelling in from another city, book with the assumption that your slot may run late rather than early.
If you have a medical condition, an old injury, or anything that affects what you can physically attempt, be upfront about it on the form and in person. The tasks are genuinely demanding and productions ask for this in writing anyway — hiding it doesn't help you get selected, it just creates a problem later.
What actually happens at a ground audition?
The on-ground stage is not one conversation. Across recent seasons it has generally run as a funnel, and knowing the shape of it removes most of the surprise:
Registration and verification. Your details get checked against what you submitted online, your ID is verified, and you're given a token or slot. This part is administrative and slow.
A group round. Shortlisted candidates are typically put into batches and given a topic to discuss while casting staff watch. Nobody is scoring your argument — they're watching whether you can hold a position in a crowd without either disappearing or steamrolling everyone.
The personal interview. The final and most-talked-about stage, where you sit in front of the panel directly. This is the round that produces the clips people remember, and it's deliberately confrontational.
Not every city runs identically and the production can compress or add stages, so treat this as the general shape rather than a guaranteed running order.
What questions does the Roadies panel actually ask?
This is the part most first-time auditionees underestimate. It's less a scripted Q&A and more a pressure test — the panel is watching how you answer as much as what you say. Based on the recurring pattern across seasons, expect the conversation to circle a few core areas:
Self-awareness and self-rating. You'll almost always be asked to size yourself up honestly — your strengths, your flaws, and why you specifically deserve a seat over everyone else in line that day.
Your real story, not a rehearsed one. Panels tend to push past generic answers ("I want adventure") and dig for a specific personal experience — a conflict, a failure, a turning point — that shows who you are under pressure.
How you handle being challenged. Roadies has a reputation for confrontational judging, and that's intentional. Expect a panelist to disagree with you, interrupt you, or poke at something you said, just to see whether you fold, get defensive, or hold your ground calmly.
Physical and mental readiness. Straightforward questions about fitness, past injuries, and whether you can handle unpredictable, uncomfortable conditions for weeks at a stretch.
Why Roadies, specifically. Not "why reality TV," but why this show's format of tasks, betrayal twists, and gang politics appeals to you over any other platform.
The most consistent advice from past contestants and casting write-ups: speak with confidence, don't perform a version of yourself you think the panel wants, and treat the self-introduction video as seriously as the in-person round — a flat video rarely gets a second look regardless of how well you might do live.
For a fuller breakdown of each round's questioning style, we've mapped every type of question the Roadies panel is known for separately.
What gets auditionees cut early?
The rejections that sting most are usually self-inflicted. Recurring patterns worth avoiding:
Performing a personality. Arriving as a louder, more aggressive version of yourself because that's what you think the show rewards. Panels have watched thousands of people do this and it reads instantly. Aggression without a real person behind it is boring television, which is the actual disqualifier.
A rehearsed backstory. Having one dramatic story you've polished is fine. Having one you've invented is a genuine risk — the franchise has publicly called out contestants whose stories didn't hold up, and a panel that senses embellishment will keep pulling the thread.
Folding under the first push. If a panelist disagrees with you and you immediately abandon your position, you've answered the question they were actually asking. Holding a view calmly while being challenged is the trait being tested.
Going blank on "why you." Almost everyone is asked some version of why they deserve the spot over the person behind them in line. Not having a specific answer to that is the most common avoidable failure in the room.
Treating the wait as downtime. Casting staff are around long before the interview starts. How you behave in the queue is visible.
Should you apply this season?
REBIRTH is being positioned as a genuine reset for the franchise — new branding, new energy from Rannvijay's return, and (per the makers' comments) new gang leaders expected to be revealed closer to the audition dates. If you're on the fence, the low-friction entry point (an app-based self-tape) makes it worth applying even if you're unsure — the actual filtering happens at the ground-audition stage, not before it.
One thing to be realistic about: the funnel is extremely wide at the top. Tens of thousands register for a cast of a few dozen, so not being called back says very little about you specifically. Applicants who eventually make it onto reality formats commonly audition across multiple seasons and shows before anything lands.
What happens after you're shortlisted?
If you clear the ground audition, expect the process to get more administrative rather than more dramatic. Productions typically move selected candidates through further rounds, background and document verification, medical checks, and contract paperwork before anyone is confirmed on camera. Shooting a season also means being unavailable for weeks at a stretch in locations you won't choose, which is worth thinking through against your job, college, or exams before you sign anything.
Nothing is final until the production confirms it directly. Being shortlisted, called back, or even filmed at an audition is not the same as being cast, and neither MTV nor JioHotstar treats a name as official until they announce it.
We'll update this post with confirmed city-wise dates the moment MTV or JioHotstar release them. For more on what's shaping this new chapter, see our breakdown of everything confirmed about Roadies REBIRTH so far, and if you want the finale that set this season up, Gullu's Double Cross win is the context.
