Adventures In Serbia:
The first Indian to have appeared on the Bear Grylls adventure show was PM Narendra Modi, who looked quite blase at all the excitement the host tried to drum up, because he had seen it all in childhood.
The others who followed the pumped up dangers in wild life resorts were Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Vicky Kaushal all action stars, and good actors who could at least get the requisite expressions of thrill when Grylls wanted them to. The audience got to see the A-listers doing their Khatron Ke Khiladi-like acts in picturesque locations. Nobody actually believed for a moment that there was real danger lurking in the jungle, or that the safety standards of an international production house were anything but impeccable.
So, the show is all about viewers watching celebrities having fun, and imagining they had some control over the proceedings because using interactive button on screen they can decide the course of action. There is also the undo button which would make the participant take the other option, so two sequences for the price of one so to say.
Ranveer Singh known for his exuberance, wit and funky style greets Grylls with kisses calling him “imported Tarzan” and “Mowgli” — the TV star described as “adventurer, survival specialist and man without fear.” Right away, the tone of the show is set. The “actor, adrenaline junkie and hopeless romantic” will teach Grylls as much as he learns from him.
The star who says he never went beyond Aarey Forest is helicoptered to a breathtaking Serbian landscape, where two will encounter, bears, wolves, snakes and assorted dangers, undoubtedly scripted and controlled (direced by Khuzema Haveliwala). But when Ranveer gasps how scared he is, he makes you believe it.
He admits in a moment of touching honesty that he needed this trip to get out of his comfort zone, and change his life’s direction, but the declared intention is the search for a rare flower, Serbica Ramonda, which he wants to pluck for his wife Deepika Padukone. He praises her extravagantly as he goes up and down cliffs, across rivers and into caves. He eats ants, maggots, turns his briefs into a flaming torch when light is needed. In the midst if the trek, he is joined by a friend, Karan Kapadia, and they have a good time together. His constant good cheer is infectious.
Ranveer ad libs away and embraces each experience with the excitement of a child — his hair combed into a little fountain on top if his head, makes him look endearingly youthful.
The show (on Netflix) is enjoyable because Ranveer wants it to be. As Grylls days at some point, “Travelling with you is never boring.”
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)