The real star of IRT-India’s Deadliest Roads
BharatBenz has associated with History TV18 to present the first Indian edition of Ice Road Truckers (IRT) – India’s Deadliest Roads’ featuring 10 episodes which will be aired every Friday, starting from October 21, 2016 at 09:00pm. Currently in its 10th season, IRT is an international reality television series that premiered on History TV in 2007. It features the activities of real truck drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and rivers, in remote Arctic territories in Canada and Alaska. Later series have also focused on Alaska’s improved but still remote Dalton Highway, which is mainly snow-covered solid ground. The newest seasons are based on Manitoba’s winter roads.
However, the Indian version features three people from the entertainment industry, namely, Mandira Bedi, wrestler Sangram Singh and actor Varun Sharma, maneuvering BharatBenz trucks through the roads of Leh-Ladakh, Pangong Lake and Nubra valley, to supply essential commodities to the remote villages in these regions, which are otherwise cut off from the world during severe winters.
Sturdy and reliable trucks
Throughout the journey these celebrities drove BharatBenz MD IN-POWER 1214R for fifteen hundred kilometers up to 18,000 feet in the unforgiving terrain of the Himalayan region. ‘IRT-India’s Deadliest Roads’ aims to document the daring and difficult conditions that truckers face while driving at these heights. The challenging terrain threw up the rockiest of roads, slippery curves, the truly ‘crazy nalas’ and many other kinds of almost un-navigable paths. “It is the perfect format to visually showcase how BharatBenz trucks are tailor-made for our customers’ needs. They are robust, reliable and the ideal vehicles to handle all kinds of road and weather conditions as well as the toughest of terrains,” beamed Sominder Singh, Vice President, Domestic Sales, Product Management and Network, DICV. Celebrities backed Mr. Singh’s statement that the trucks didn’t face any break down in the entire course of their journey.
The three BharatBenz star trucks on the show, 1214R MD IN-POWER models, are from the recently launched next generation of reliable medium duty trucks, which comes with an enhanced focus on payload advantage, improved fuel efficiency, higher service intervals, radial tyres and enhanced feature-loaded driving comfort. The contemporarily styled trucks also feature the Multi Drive Mode (MDM) which allows drivers to optimize engine settings either for urban traffic or highway trucking with the push of a button.
Discovering the road ahead
Before the actual shooting began, the participants were trained in Chennai at Bharat Benz test track as well as Yelagiri hills and Hampta pass in Manali to drive the trucks on different terrains and also get familiar with the features of the truck, which helped them during the course of the thrilling expedition. Speaking on the show Sangeetha Aiyer, VP & Head Marketing, History TV18 said “I’m sure it’s exciting news for all our viewers that local content and characters are being featured in formats of global repute. The show best epitomizes what the channel stands for, excellent production values, edge of the seat entertainment with innovative never seen before formats.”
All the three stars spoke highly about their experience of getting in the shoes of the truck drivers. “Truck drivers have huge responsibilities as they have to meet deadlines and reach places on given time. My perception towards truck drivers and the life they live has totally changed after this experience, hats off to the entire driving community” said Mandira Bedi.
Wrestler Sangram Singh described this as one of the toughest encounter of his life. “Driving the truck on the narrow roads was a real challenge and needed full focus and diligence compared to the reality shows that I have been part of in the past,” expressed Sangram Singh. Varun Sharma who has done light hearted comedy roles in films said, “Having seen the international seasons of IRT, I immediately agreed to do the show and as expected the journey was filled with lot of challenges and help me emerged stronger and more compassionate towards a truck driver.” Clearly truck drivers have finally attracted the respect and attention they deserve and a sturdy, reliable and comfortable truck like Bharat Benz can ideally be their best reward on tough journey.