New Delhi: Ask anyone about the all-time coolest appearance on the reality show Roadies and actor Rannvijay Singha is sure to feature somewhere in the top 3. He won hearts as well as MTV's reality show in 2003.

That was 16 years ago, now, as the actor turns 36 today, he has come a long way but the Fauji brat in him lives on. And, what could be more telling of that than his DMS boot story. “DMS boots are something that all the army people wear for everything. I did have DMS boots growing up as an Army officer's son but you couldn't really play any specialised sports in them. I had my first DMS when I was going into the 7th standard, I think so because my dad’s in the Infantry and everyone was wearing DMS, so I got them really early."

Though they look really cool, the Double Moulded Sole aka DMS boots is not an easy accessory to wear. Thankfully, the Rannvijay has a tip, he says, "You got to do exactly what all the guys do - You got to wet it, put your feet in it and wear it for like five hours. It takes the shape of your foot so, you can do whatever you want in them."  

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A self-confessed sneakerhead, the actor had also organised the first-ever sneaker festival in India with many items from his personal collection on display. Still associated with Roadies as the host, VJ and with a clothing line to his credit, did you know that the actor had plans to join the forces?

With six generations of family in the defence forces, including his dad Lt General Iqbal Singh Singha, Rannvijay had cleared the SSB, qualified for the IMA as well as the OTA. Ask him about what if...and he says, "I would have joined the Rajputana Rifles, like my dad, but the debate was that my Chacha is from Grenadiers and dad’s really close family friends were from Guards, Arty, Armoured this and that. They were all fighting over me because apparently, they said I would be an asset to whichever regiment I would join. But, I would have joined my dad’s regiment for sure, unless I had got through Paras (Parachute Regiment)."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#jaihind🇮🇳 #indianarmy #indiandefenceforces #indiannavy #indianairforce @indianarmy.adgpi @indianairforce @indiannavy

A post shared by Rannvijay (@rannvijaysingha) on Feb 28, 2019 at 1:47am PST

And he does have many fond memories of the time spent in the Army cantonment, the 'Famous Five' lifestyle as he calls it, inspired by author Enid Blyton's novels about a group of kids solving mysteries. "I used to love being with all the regimental officers...all the bachelors would take us to places and we would have a lot of fun. Croquet parties, a lot of activities going on like dart throwing competitions, I just loved it. When I grew up I loved the fact that we had the opportunity to do anything that we wanted. It was like ‘Oh you want to go rock-climbing? Just go to the uncle posted in Siliguri’ or ‘Wanna play basketball? Just go to the RajRif, the team is practising, just practice with them’. The kind of infrastructure we had as an Army officer’s kid is unbelievable. I really value that,” he says. 

From his awesome sneaker collection to his antics on Roadies, actor Rannvijay Singha will give you major #goals. However, nothing can be more inspiring than him playing a 'woke' dad to his daughter, Kainaat, as he tells us, "I am wishing that my daughter does whatever makes her happy and if she were to join the Indian Army that would be truly amazing but it has to be something she wants to do."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rannvijay (@rannvijaysingha) on Mar 5, 2019 at 11:25pm PST