It’s dangerous, it’s unforgiving, and it’s brutal,” warns host Varun Sood at the beginning of the Discovery Channel’s new show, Reality Ranis Of The Jungle. He thus prepares the audience for a wild ride as they see 12 female participants pitted against nature’s harshest trials in Himachal’s Kangra Valley.
From prowling predators like leopards, bears, snakes, ticks and leeches, and extreme weather to hilly terrain, the participants have to claw their way up to the top of the race to win a massive cash prize. The show features Indian television stars like Pavitra Punia, Tejaswi Madivada, Eksha Kerung, and Krissann Barretto, among others.
Sood, who himself has showed his daredevilry, being part of cult reality shows like MTV Roadies season 12, Splitsvilla season 9, MTV Roadies season 17, and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi season 11, turns his dream true by hosting a survival show for the first time.
“I grew up watching Discovery’s hit shows like Man versus Wild and Man, Woman, Wild. When I was part of survival races, I dreamt of hosting a show of my own. I am happy to bag this one! If I have to compare Reality Ranis Of The Jungle to anything else, it will be women versus the wild. And when women compete against each other, it’s a different kind of fire!,” he excitedly tells us.
Unique format
Think reality television is staged? Sood shares that the 10-episode show is as real as it gets. “Each of the contestants had to stay in the jungle for the 10 days of shooting rather than staying in lavish hotels and coming in for the task, which usually happens in many reality shows,” he reveals. And that meant facing the unpredictable weather of the forest where mornings used to be hot while nights used to get cold.
“In between, we also had heavy rains. But since the concept of the show was that one had to win a task to get the basic luxury of life like a bed with pillows and blankets, a hot shower, etc, those of the losing team had to stay outside in the jungle.
When the rains lashed, they didn’t have shelter.” Sood felt “bad” at one point, and asked the crew if the women could get umbrellas but that could not be done as that’s how they judge the survival of the fittest. “Hats off to the women who did not give up,” he says.
What he learnt
During the hosting, Sood learnt about the power of mental resilience over mere physical toughness, from women. In one task, when the contestants had to eat raw meat — from goat brains, and eyeballs to chicken feet — Sood could not imagine himself eating that.
The second most difficult task was the race to the camp where the women had to pull their luggage and run to the next base camp, trekking 10-12 km in the hilly jungle. Sood told the crew that it may not be possible for women to pack their luggage every now and then, but they exceeded his expectations.
“I consider myself pretty fit but to imagine doing such tasks was unthinkable. The show taught me one thing for sure — that women are tougher than men mentally,” he says with a smiles. “You need more mental grit and wit than just physical toughness, to survive in the forest.”
Another learning came when Sood had to deal with conflicting participants. “As a host, my job was to take the show forward and bring in that spice element. But whenever conflicts arose, I let the contestants resolve their issues and let them be.
I got involved only when things got way out of hand.” For Sood who was inspired by the show host Rannvijay Singha of Roadies fame, he knew he had to play fair throughout. “A lot of dreams are at stake. My job was to act just and make the women feel as comfortable and safe in such an alien environment,” the actor-model shares.
An adventurer at heart
In his decade-long career, Sood has been part of more than a dozen reality shows, web series like Karmma Calling, Naam Namak Nishan, Call Me Bae and films like Jugjugg Jeeyo. Nature-based shows are, however, his calling.
“I meet myself in nature. A few years back, I went on a four-day trek at the Hampta Pass situated at a height of 14,000 feet in Himachal Pradesh. I was in the middle of knee-deep snow with my friends.
There was no phone connection. It hit me then that you need not have cell phones all the time. Humans are supposed to be in natural habitats rather than urbanised settings. I spent time stargazing, living in a tent, and drinking water from the fresh stream while doing a digital detox. Even now, when I and Singha get a few days off, we head for a trip,” he says.
Being an army kid, adventure is natural to Sood since childhood. He has lived in Andaman, Kashmir, Kolkata, and spent 12 years in Delhi before moving to Mumbai. “My dad wanted us to experience everything. I learnt scuba-diving and snorkelling in Andaman. I used to go on a lot of trips to Himachal when I stayed in Delhi. I was also a national-level basketball player and played for Delhi in my school and college years. As an athlete, I
travelled a lot for camps and tournaments. Such experience of different sensations and talking to people from diverse communities, shaped me as an actor because you play different characters all the time,” he says.
Now as Sood will appear in Call Me Bae season 2 and two more releases in 2025, he aims for a long career. “Acting is not a sprint,” he says. “You don’t have to run very fast to get there. It is more like a marathon. It’s about how long you can keep at it, and go ahead.”
Reality Ranis Of The Jungle is streaming on Discovery+ and Discovery Channel on Monday and Tuesday at 10pm