By Riya Singla
Prime time shows, family time, The ‘K factor’ and lots and lots of melodrama! The ideal scene from every household a few years back. Ekta Kapoor , a brand in herself, needs no introduction. The daughter of famous veteran actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor , is more than just ‘a television czarina’. The flamboyant and creative director of Balaji Telefilms happens to have produced the longest running shows in the history of Indian television. Some may call her superstitious or a believer of numerology and other occult sciences, her rings sure speak a lot about her personality. She confesses her love for her rings and just cannot go out without them. (One can only hope she does not have the same love for her unflattering slippers).
She has always been a victim to critics’ reaction but what she rules is the Indian masses’ hearts. The ‘saas-bahu’ drama certainly gives the perfect recipe to pass time, to team ‘housewife’ of the country. Not giving much attention to what analysts may think of the story, the script or the stars, she knows that she is catering to a population which is fond of all this ‘star studded drama’.
From a sitcom like ‘Hum Paanch’ to the complicated, melodramatic plots of Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi, Kahanii ghar ghar kii, Kasautti Zindagi kii, Kahin kisi roz etc., she created a unique niche for herself in the big, bad industry. Talking of the movie industry, she began with projects like ‘Kyunki Main Jhooth nhi bolta’, which wasn’t a big hit but she kept trying her luck and came up with mega projects like ‘Kya Kool hain hum’, ‘Ragini MMS’ and ‘Love,Sex aur Dhokha’; the last one being the biggest sleeper hit of 2010. Even bigger hits like ‘The Dirty Picture’ proved her dexterity and potential to everybody in the line. She enjoys the honor of having created big stars out of Vidya Balan, Sakshi Tanwar, Smriti Irani, Shweta Tiwari , Ronit Roy etc. too.
The lady has had her share of ups and downs. From a time, where her shows ran on prime time for about 7-8 years and had the highest TRPs, to the time when the channel went on to cancel her contract, could surely have made her a pessimist. At this stage, Balaji was in complete doldrums because they were not able to see that with time audience has changed and their tastes, too. The new tantrum less Ekta has handled the worst too. With her new projects like Bade acche lagte hain, Pavitra Rishta, Kya Hua Tera Vaada, Ye Hai Mohabattein she has got herself rooted again in the market.
Awarded with ‘n’ number of ITA awards, she was also a recipient of ‘Ernst & Young (E&Y) Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year award’ in 2001. She is among those women in India, who certainly know their way around, loaded with confidence and commitment in doing their chosen work. She inspires all youngsters, specially the girls who think big, dream big and want to make it big. Certainly, the 39 year old star deserves a huge round of applause!
