Adventure junkie hits the road

His seven minute-long interview on Roadies X could, ironically, tickle anyone’s funny bones.

But in that interview, a year ago, when he made his first appearance in the adventure reality series, Delhi boy Nikhil Sachdeva couldn’t crack even a single joke in his interview. 

He says, “I am not that kind of a character who can crack a joke spontaneously.

And on that they called me heavy (which I was).

 ” And a year later, tables seem to have turned, as Nikhil has gone onto be a popular participant in the Roadies X1: Ride For Respect. Not only has he shed 28 kilos (Remember the 102 kg heavy guy?), he has shed all his inhibitions to emerge as a confident personality on the show.

 The tattooist from North Delhi speaks to Metrolife about this transformation in his life and his journey as a Roadie.

“Now people ask me ‘What did you do guy?” says Nikhil humorously.

 “They didn’t like me on three counts: my weight, humour and English. I am not a comedy character by nature, so I couldn’t work on that. I am good at speaking Hindi, it’s just that English comes more naturally to me. Ergo, I did extensive workouts to give it another shot at Roadies this year.” 

Well! He passed that arduous test with flying colours as Nikhil aka Nick was recently complimented by a Director of Photography (Roadies DOP) for being as committed as the show’s host and adventure junkie judge Rannvijay Singh.

Nick runs his studio ‘Tattoos by Nick’ in Kingsway Camp, with a single-minded determination.

He believes, “anybody could go to a tattoo artiste in Connaught Place and get it done for a 500 bucks. It was important for me to set a benchmark through this show and give a reason to my clients to come to me for a tattoo that is worth Rs 2,000 or more.

” Being one amongst the five tattoo artistes who inscribed 150 flags on the body of a Guinness Book of World Record holder, Nick takes pride in that achievement. 

In the midst of his Roadies journey, Nikhil exclaims, “I gave up smoking after 12 years, as during the series they confiscated cigarettes from us. In that way too, life has transformed a bit.

This year’s format is based upon the theme ‘Walk the Talk’.

So, nobody gets into the oft talked about malicious politics in this show. People bid and challenge each other to do a task and only on the basis of one’s performance, one can survive this year’s Roadies.” 

 Traversing a journey across Rajasthan and Gujarat, Nick felt exhilarated as they crossed the Tropic of Cancer.

“Having a tanned body, no workout in gyms and a continuous journey on the road, when we passed through the Tropic of Cancer, I felt awesome.” 

Does he want to venture into acting post this show?

Pat comes an honest reply, “No, I play guitar, and I can talk and perform, so may be a host/ anchor would work for me. But acting, I don’t think I can do that for now.”