Even as we gulp in the information, we cool our heels in a make up room as the PR girls keep asking us for coffee and colas, while the two judges (Ram and Lakshman) we are told get their faces done! May be they expect the make-up guy to help them look different. About an hour later ,the two walk in and wait a minute, we quickly jot down the differences. While Rajiv Lakshman wears a black pair of earrings, it’s silver for Raghu. Rajiv has worn a black shirt while Raghu has a red print on his black shirt. If Rajiv is wearing a blue and white pair of shoes, Raghu’s is mostly white….and yes, while Rajiv’s ears are big and normal, Raghu’s look like they belonged to Star Trek’s Mr Spock. As for the similarities, they talk alike, they finish off each other’s sentences and wear two rings on the same fingers…

Raghu feels the fact that they are identical is a big advantage. “When you walk into a party, no matter what the crowd is, you draw the attention. People are curious to see two people… You can’t escape that. Yes, it does get irritating at times when you can’t enjoy your dinner with people staring at you.” Rajiv shakes his head, saying, “No, it’s not irritating because you were born with your best friend.”

The two claim to have been leading identical lives right from the subjects they studied in college But so far they haven’t experienced the Ek ko maara toh dusre ko dard hua syndrome. And that’s exactly what they are looking for in ...Connected. “We are not

interested in whether they are the smartest or the cutest, we want to know how connected they are and feel towards each other. That extra- sensory perception, like looking out for a psychic explanation for the way they behave or think or react in a situation. It’s going to be fun,” says Rajiv. Adds Raghu, “I guess the biggest plus is you have 15 pairs of same-looking people in one go. That’s freaky.” And freaky it was, as we saw some eight pairs of boys and girls, dressed in identical clothes, with the same hair do, a similar walking style, the same voice coming from interesting backgrounds. We particularly liked the two ‘model’ boys and the two Telugu-speaking, mirchi girls. While we will have to wait for the show to know what the judges are looking for, we are certain about the ample hatke factor it would provide to the viewers.

By the way, there is another difference between Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman, who were born 10 minutes apart - Rajiv is a better looker.