HIS white t-shirt bears the words “Where Dreamers Become Doers”. For 24-year-old Mugen Rao, it’s a perfect summing-up of what he’s accomplished so far.
Winning popular reality show Bigg Boss Season 3 had been a dream of his for the longest time.
“I watched the first season of Bigg Boss and told my family that someday I’d like to take part in this show,” he confides, leaning forward with hands clasped.
He’s back in Malaysia after a whirlwind schedule of interviews and appearances in India.
Looking a little tired and nursing a flu, Mugen remains fiendishly polite, well turned out and dressed in standard hipster attire — plaid shirt over white tee and skinny jeans.
He shares that he’s a big believer in the law of attraction. “You become what you believe,” he avers, smiling.
As he held the Bigg Boss trophy aloft with teary eyes on October 6 in the glittering finale of the reality show, Mugen became what he envisioned — a winner.
His appearance on Bigg Boss Tamil lasted all of the 105 gruelling days filled with meltdowns, fights, tears and drama that glued most Indians worldwide to their television screens, and that was enough to propel the Malaysian to instant global fame.
The victory was especially sweet. Mugen Rao beat 16 other contestants in the show set in Tamil Nadu, garnering the highest number of votes in the history of Bigg Boss Tamil to capture the top prize.
Bigg Boss Tamil is based on the original Dutch Big Brother format developed by John de Mol Jr. Featuring a mixture of celebrities and non-celebrities, 17 housemates live together for slightly more than three months as part of a social experiment, in a house isolated from the rest of the world.
The voyeuristic appeal of the show drew millions of viewers into the daily goings-on of competitors forced to live within a fishbowl where every conversation is heard and every movement is recorded.
This ground-breaking format from the Netherlands changed the face of television and while some might dismiss it as a show that dragged television into the gutter, a sign of our degraded society, the truth is far more complex.
I’m inclined to think about William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, where a group of boys stranded on an uninhabited island make disastrous attempts to govern themselves.
Golding described the entire story as boys in their isolation suffering unchecked “from the terrible disease of being human.” And this is what makes series like Bigg Boss all the more riveting — and Mugen’s win all the more impressive.
Pitching a diverse group of people in a cloistered place with no means of contact from the outside world can drive anyone a little crazy. And make for great television.
Throw in a megastar like Kamalhaasan as the benevolent host and you’re guaranteed a sure winner. It’s not all about the game but also about the complexity of human beings that surfaces as they’re placed under immense scrutiny and pressure.
What happens when there are a lot of personalities locked in together under one roof?
“Drama,” he replies with disarming honesty. The mix of people in the house varies each season. You have your drama queens, a few catty actresses, aspiring actors and musicians, and many more — each with their own issues and struggles.
There are plenty of big fights, gossip, cliques, unrequited crushes and a whole load of drama with enemy lines drawn and friendships forged. It’s like watching a Kollywood film unfold in real time — full of tension and over the top — just the way we like our Tamil films!
Forget all thoughts of logic; for an hour every day over the last three months, my mother remained glued to the television screen.
“Sssshh..!” she’d admonish me whenever I asked her what was going on. She was a huge fan of Mugen. “He should win,” she’d say earnestly. It’s a matter of pride. Mugen was the first Malaysian given the opportunity to participate in this hugely popular reality show and inevitably (if not historically) becoming the first Malaysian to win.
A STAR IS BORN
Your family must be so proud, I say to him and he nods, smiling slightly. A noticeable tensing of shoulders, his reticence in talking about his family is evident.
Monosyllabic answers ensue when I tread on personal questions. Where were you born? Kuala Lumpur. Who do you live with? My mum, my brother and my sister. Were you brought up in KL? Yes.
It’s forgivable. After all, baring his soul on public television had its repercussions. On one of the episodes of Bigg Boss, Mugen talked about his childhood and the mental anguish he went through as a child who witnessed his parents’ constant arguing.
“I spoke about it at length on the show,” he acknowledges, looking guarded.
He doesn’t wish to dwell on it anymore. “A lot has been misinterpreted and that had inadvertently hurt the people I care about,” he explains, adding: “Now I just want to spread positivity.”
But spreading positivity also means being candid about certain aspects of his life. He sees himself as a role model of sorts — a responsibility spilt over from being the eldest in his family.
“I want my young fans to know that while there are a lot of issues faced by families everywhere, you can only get stronger through adversity,” advises Mugen.
He comes from a normal family, he stresses. “…and every family has their own set of problems.”
While he’s reluctant to go into details of that period, he’s willing to divulge some of the issues he went through as a child.
“I’ve seen my parents during happier days, but then I also witnessed how their relationship deteriorated,” he shares frankly. It hurt him deeply. “You tend to wonder what’s real and what isn’t,” he muses.
He fell into a deep depression which led to a suicide attempt at the tender age of 10. “Thankfully, I survived that phase,” he recounts soberly. Everything happened for a reason, he adds retrospectively. “It made me who I am today.”
What got you out of depression? “Music,” he replies simply. The creative arts saved him from spiralling deeper into depression. For that, Mugen has his father Prakash Rao Krishnan to thank.
A personal driver by day and part-time stage singer, Prakash brought 9-year-old Mugen on stage to sing his very first song. It marked the beginning of a lifelong love for music and the performing arts. “I remember being terrified of the crowd,” he recalls, chuckling.
Clutching the microphone and the sea of people watching unnerved him. But his father advised: “When you’re onstage, perform like you own it. Don’t worry about what other people think. You’re the king of the stage!”
He took his father’s advice to heart, and by the age of 12, Mugen became a veteran of more than 50 stage performances.
“I developed such a passion for music,” he recalls, pride lacing through his voice. By the age of 16, he’d already started writing and composing his own songs.
Where does he get his inspiration from? Pain, he answers, shrugging his shoulders.
“Pain isn’t necessarily something sad,” he hastily explains, adding sagely: “Pain gives you strength to pursue your dreams.”
Teaming up with his schoolmate Anusha Asha, Mugen founded Random Crownz — a song writing/singing/production group — and started producing music videos.
The ambitious group knocked on many doors for opportunities including IBP Studios, a Kuala Lumpur-based production house.
Producer Edvin Anand recognised their talent and soon became Mugen’s staunchest supporter and mentor.
One of his group’s earliest music video projects entitled Kathaley Kannir went on to be a viral hit, giving Mugen his first taste of success. “It was exhilarating,” he recalls.
Mugen also started acting in movies and commercials from a young age.
His late uncle, Sathis Rao, who passed away tragically in a drowning incident two years ago, was a gifted actor. He introduced Mugen as an extra for a telemovie Senandung Malam, a tribute to P. Ramlee. “I bagged the role of the paperboy!” he says, chuckling heartily.
HARD TIMES, BIG DREAMS
Despite his success, there was still a need to support his family. “We weren’t well off and finances were tight,” he explains, adding that he took on a few jobs after finishing school.
“I worked in a friend’s murukku shop from 7 in the morning to 7 at night. I also found work at a night cafe.”
The stoic lad juggled two jobs until a fateful night when he almost lost a finger to a robbery. He shows me his scar on his thumb, saying: “I had to go for an operation.”
It was 3 in the morning, and Mugen was on his way to check on the cafe when a car drew up to him. “I thought it was the police so I obeyed when the driver beckoned me to stop,” he recalls.
“What are you doing here?” the driver asked. “I’m a student,” replied Mugen. The driver drew up a Samurai sword and slashed the young boy before taking off with the latter’s handphone and wallet.
Despite the traumatic experience, Mugen persisted on taking on a variety of odd jobs — from being a security guard to fixing hospital beds — for several years.
“I needed money to support myself and my family,” he explains. Being the eldest, a lot of responsibility was placed on his young shoulders. He continued producing music videos in his spare time but after the success of Kathaley Kannir, nothing else seemed to garner the same kind of popularity. “I almost gave up,” he admits.
With the encouragement of his mentor Edvin and his family, Mugen decided to focus solely on his dream. “I don’t just want to be a singer,” he insists. “I want to be known as an entertainer.”
He enrolled at Limkokwing University to further his studies.
“A lot of people would opt for a course like accountancy or law and then fall into acting. I wanted a course that best fit my interest in the entertainment field,” he explains, adding proudly that he was one of the first batch of students who obtained a diploma in Performing Arts.
ROAD TO STARDOM
Mugen slowly garnered a growing fan base with his music videos. Songs like Kayalvizhi and Anbey Aaruyirae became immediate hits when they came out, and Mugen was once again on his way to becoming a rising Malaysian star.
But he wanted more. “I’d like to see a wax figure of myself at Madame Tussaud’s one day,” he declares.
Grandiose dreams? Perhaps. But the steely resolve in his eyes tells me he just might get what he wishes for.
He set his sights on India — the filmmaking hub based in Tamil Nadu, in the Kodambakkam neighbourhood, leading to the industry’s nickname Kollywood, a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood.
It wasn’t an easy industry to break into despite having some measure of success and exposure through his music videos. But that was until he got the fateful call from Pramila Rajagopal of Vijay TV — an Indian Tamil-language pay television channel — who recommended that he audition for the reality TV show Bigg Boss.
“When opportunity comes, you don’t hesitate,” he says determinedly. He flew to India for an audition, and the rest as they say, is history. His win was unexpected, he admits. “I didn’t expect to last that long,” he says sheepishly. It was tough being isolated from friends and family during the tenure of the show.
“I missed my family, especially my mother who’s my best friend,” he says softly. “It got really depressing but I pressed on.”
Pressing on led to a historic win which paved the way for Mugen to keep on pursuing his dreams of being a successful entertainer.
His father always believed in him, he confides. “He’s super proud of my success now.”
Prakash used to call Mugen by his initials, MGR, the same initials shared by one of the most iconic and influential actors in the Tamil film industry.
“You share the same initials as MGR, son. You’ll be a successful person one day,” his father assured him.
He’s been proven right, I point out. He nods, eyes glistening.
Mugen believes wholeheartedly in dreaming big. “I’m living proof that if you have the courage and determination to pursue your dreams, they can come true,” he says.
He is, by his own admission, a “lucky man”, but also lucky enough to take the opportunity life has given him.
Any advice to pass on to other dreamers like you? I ask finally.
He smiles. “Be who you are. Be uniquely you. Keep on pursuing your dreams with hard work and determination,” he advises.
A brief pause, another flash of that brilliant smile which won the hearts of viewers worldwide and Mugen concludes: “Just like me, you’ll get there.”