Roadies Rebirth Returns With Two Teams of Three Gang Leaders on TV and JioHotstar
Season 21 was scheduled to premiere on 16 October 2026 with six gang leaders split into OG and NewG teams, airing on MTV and JioHotstar every Friday and Saturday at 7 pm.
Roadies Rebirth, the 21st season of MTV's Roadies, was scheduled to premiere on Friday, 16 October 2026. Rannvijay Singha returns as host, and the season divides its six gang leaders into two teams of three, a dynamic the host says the show has never seen before.
New episodes are scheduled every Friday and Saturday at 7 pm on MTV and JioHotstar. The season follows Season 20, which premiered on 11 January 2025 with Singha as host. The show began on MTV India on 15 August 2003 and is one of India's longest-running reality shows.
Premiere Date and Weekly Schedule
The season was scheduled to open on Friday, 16 October 2026, with telecast days of Friday and Saturday at 7 pm. The same days and time apply on MTV, which carries the television telecast, and on JioHotstar, which carries the stream.
The show has run on MTV since its debut in August 2003 and has gone through many seasons over more than two decades. Season 19, titled Karm Ya Kaand, aired from 3 June to 15 October 2023 with Sonu Sood as host. Season 20, titled Double Cross, premiered on 11 January 2025 and finished on 1 June 2025.
Season 21 begins about 16 months after the Season 20 finale and carries the title Rebirth. Wikipedia lists the season's run as 2026 to 2027, with the premiere on 16 October 2026.
How the Two-Team Format Works
Season 21 is organised as two competing teams, the OGs and the NewGs, with three gang leaders on each side. Singha describes two gangs with six people running the game. Daily Jagran reports that the two groups will compete against each other through a series of challenges.
The structure is six leaders in two gangs, with three OGs facing three NewGs, a dynamic the host says the show has never seen before.
Latestly describes the setup as two larger teams rather than individual gang leaders, with heightened rivalries and complex alliances as contestants take on physical tasks and adventure-based challenges.
Indian Television describes the teams as three OG Gang Leaders facing three NewG Gang Leaders. Its report on the latest preview shows the OGs at bench-press exercises and the NewGs at push-up challenge, with comedic mishaps and banter between members. The preview highlights the dynamic between Prince Narula and Neha Dhupia.
Press Network of India describes the season as an adventure reality show with a new leadership dynamic, and quotes Singha saying the fight is going to be tough. India TV News describes the contest as tasks, challenges and eliminations.
The Six Gang Leaders and Their Histories
The OG team is Nikhil Chinapa, Neha Dhupia and Prince Narula. The NewG team is Abhishek Malhan, Bani J and Baseer Ali. All six are gang leaders for Season 21, and each team has three.
Latestly describes the OG leaders as familiar figures from the Roadies universe, with years of experience. It describes the NewG leaders as popular personalities who bring new energy, and gives Abhishek Malhan's nickname as Fukra Insaan.
Bani J has fronted the show before, hosting seasons in 2009 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2015. The NewG team therefore includes a former host.
Wikipedia's host list gives Rannvijay Singha's years as 2004 to 2012, 2018 to 2020 and 2025 onward, while India TV News says he hosted continuously from Season 2 to Season 17. Other hosts were Cyrus Sahukar in 2003, Gaelyn Mendonca in 2016 and 2017, and Sonu Sood in 2022 and 2023. Latestly describes Singha as closely tied to the show since its start.
Sonu Sood's 2022 and 2023 hosting came before Singha returned for Season 20 in 2025. India TV News says Singha returned to the show for Season 20 after a gap of a few years.
One Season Across Television and Streaming
The season airs on MTV for television and streams on JioHotstar. Both carry the first episodes on Friday, 16 October, in the same weekly slot.
Daily Jagran, Latestly, India TV News and Wikipedia name Netflix as a streaming service for the season, and India TV News says Netflix India announced the premiere. Daily Jagran also says this is the first time the new season will be available on both streaming platforms.
Best Media Info, Indian Television and Press Network of India name only MTV and JioHotstar, so Netflix is the only platform in dispute between the reports.
JioStar, a joint venture formed in 2024, is home to the JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms. The release gives an aggregate subscription base of over 50 million and a weekly viewer reach of more than 800 million.
India TV News also quotes a JioHotstar post saying the season is co-powered by Be.SuperYou and DB Signature Elaichi.
The structure is six leaders in two gangs, with three OGs facing three NewGs, a dynamic the host says the show has never seen before.
The Joint Venture Behind the Platforms
Reliance Industries, Viacom18 and Disney announced the completion of their transaction on 14 November 2024. Reliance Industries holds 16.34%, Viacom18 holds 46.82% and Disney holds 36.84%. The release values the venture at ₹70,352 crore on a post-money basis.
Reliance invested ₹11,500 crore in growth capital, according to the release. Nita M. Ambani will be chairperson and Uday Shankar vice chairperson. The release names three chief executives: Kevin Vaz for entertainment, Kiran Mani for digital and Sanjog Gupta for sports.
Regulatory approvals came from the NCLT in Mumbai and the Competition Commission of India, with further approvals from authorities in the EU, China, Turkey, South Korea and Ukraine.
The release gives pro forma combined revenue of about ₹26,000 crore for the year ended March 2024. It reports more than 30,000 hours of annual TV content across more than 100 TV channels, and sports rights in cricket, football and other sports.
From a 2003 Debut to a 2026 Premiere
Nikhil J. Alva, founder of Miditech Studios, conceived the format while travelling across India, as a way to bring young Indians together through social work. Miditech Studios produced the first two seasons.
MTV took over production after the second season. Former Miditech employees Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman then moved the show toward a more intense and confrontational format.
Vashu Jain won Season 19, with Siwet Tomar as runner-up. Kushal "Gullu" Tanwar won Season 20, with Hartaaj Singh Gill as runner-up. India TV News reports that the Season 20 winner also received a motorcycle.
Season 20 premiered about 21 months before Season 21. The 2003 debut and the 2026 premiere are about 23 years apart.
