What began as an experiment, a chance, and a leap of faith, has remained the country's most credible and most watched automobile-based programme on Indian television. And now it has blown past the 900-episode mark - a feat unachieved by any other feature show (let alone automobile show) - as also the only one with this incredibly long uninterrupted run. It was 18 years ago that The carandbike Show first debuted on the newly minted NDTV network in October 2003. And like the parent, this child stood for trust and-sincerity. It has built on that by always keeping our consumer - i.e. our audience - at the heart of what it delivers. What is truly gratifying is to see how this one weekly show allowed me to also branch into other spin-offs, new formats and eventually new platforms too. Yes, we had early shows like A Very Ferrari Summer, Love...Life...and Lamborghini, Autobahn, and then subsequently had the multiple Freewheeling series, the annual carandbike Awards and even the genre breaking Mahindra Auto Quotient. All of that equity allowed us to take that same name that people trusted and followed, on to the website, and the rest as they say is history.
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It was 18 years ago that The carandbike Show first debuted on the newly minted NDTV network in October 2003
Today we have a team of committed individuals, with everyone working towards simply delivering on the same promise I began with. To bring accurate, truthful and genuine content in the auto world, to people - in a format that is easy, simple and genuine. So many people helped to make this what it is today. And its many avatars are also propped up by the public at large - whose support and loyalty have been the fuel that kept it all going. We have driven and tested multiple cars, bikes, and even had some trucks, buses, race cars, ATVs, helicopters, and trains on the show! Too many to keep count. We have also clocked many hundred thousand kilometres - including an epic journey around the world. Yes, the Great Overland Adventure a few years ago saw us drive two made in India cars across 6 continents, covering more than 50,000 kilometres.
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Over the years, The carandbike Show has welcomed the who's who line-up of stars, sportsmen, and corporate bigwigs
From Sachin to Shahrukh to Schumacher, we have also had a who's who line-up of stars and corporate bigwigs light up our screen. Ratan Tata, Carlos Ghosn, Anand Mahindra, Rahul Bajaj, Dieter Zetsche, Bill Ford, Chris Bangle, Akio Toyoda, Pawan Munjal, Virat Kohli, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Narain Karthikeyan, David Coulthard, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, John Abraham, Rani Mukherjee, Ranbir Kapoor, Gul Panag, Hrithik Roshan, Sushant Singh Rajput, Taapsee Pannu, Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt... yes, I can go on - as the galaxy of stars is quite endless, and luckily many have graced this humble show.
The carandbike Show has been presented from 6 continents, from countless race tracks to some legendary routes in both hemispheres
It has also been presented to you from 6 continents, with content from across 40 countries and counting. From obscure locations like Iceland or Tenerife, to famed heights of the Atlas, Rockies or Alps. From countless race tracks on each continent mentioned, to legendary routes in both hemispheres, we have clocked too many kilometres to count. And now as the world steps on to the EV stage, we are right there keeping pace with that too - having just completed our first EV roadtrip into Rajasthan.
While the carandbike Show has completed 900 episodes, there is a lot that is yet to come, and the journey is far from over
It has been a wild, turbulent, and fast ride! And it has been rather unbelievable - to this day I fear someone will pinch me and it will all be unreal. Honest effort, hard work, belief in what's right and the passion to dream big - yes, they do pay off at times. It's a journey I have been proud to share with so many. And the best part is that the journey is far from over. To quote Robert Frost as I end then, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."
