Wake up call for Ekta

Ekta Kapoor may not be losing her grip on TV as she is still considered to be the prime time queen with hit shows in her kitty, but she is losing her actors, their loyalty and some of her recent soaps have shut shop due to poor TRPs. Her protg Smriti Irani is making Viruddh for Sony under her own banner. In fact, Smriti is planning to launch as many as six shows this year on different channels. Sandiip Sikcand, another Ekta protg who quit Balaji to join Sony as senior creative head is said to be busy poaching Balaji actors with huge contracts to work exclusively for Sony. And actors like Iqbal Khan, Cezzane Khan and actor-producer Anuj Saxena too have left her production house. These frequent walkouts are making many industry watchers ask the question, 'Is Ekta losing her touch?'

Unlike her golden period between 2000 to 2005, where only her saas-bahu formula clicked, today competition is swiftly emerging and shows like Saat Phere have proved to be as successful as her own soaps. Shobna Desai who produces Thodi Khushi Thode Gham for Sony and is ready to launch her new show Durgesh Nandini on the same channel feels the saturation point has already set in. With saas-bahu K-soaps not mopping up the good old TRP numbers, the unreal and larger-than-life soaps are losing their appeal. "Change is definitely round the corner," she says.

Sanjay Upadhyay, ideation head of BAG Films and creative director of Kumkum too agrees that competition for Balaji has emerged but in his opinion the competitors are not making any distinctly different programmes from that of Balaji. "They have successfully copied Balaji's formula," he feels. Even though everyone is following Ekta's footsteps and doing nothing new, they are coming up with shows as good as hers. This is worrying because her serials Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka, Kaavyanjali and K Street Pali Hill shut shop and shows like Kahin to Hoga and Kasuati … are said to be losing their steam.

Another factor is that there is a lot of competition. "I think we have had the saas-bahu family dramas for bit too long and viewers are asking for a change. Family dramas will be the mainstay of prime time TV for some time but the format of story telling and characterisation will not be same. Different stories and ethos will replace the current regressive content and I can see the change coming with television going back to the good old days of 80s and 90s when stories and characters were more real," says producer Sunjoy Wadhwa (of Saath Phere, Betiyaan... and Saathi Re).

Anuj Saxena who's making Kulvaddhu for Sony says, "Competition is always healthy. It is good for everyone, be it makers, channels or viewers. But it's too early to say how new competition will stand up to Balaji's one-way march." Producer Kinnari Mehta of Sindoor Tere Naam Ka doesn't disagree with Upadhyay. "The elements of saas-bahu soaps are still there because change cannot happen overnight. But channels and producers have realised that change is the need of the hour and will happen gradually. My new show for Sony coming in March is a far more realistic drama than Sindoor," he says emphatically.

Wadhwa says competition helps break the monotony of routine entertainment fare that comes from one source. "When one person does lot of work all shows look similar. But when different players tell different stories they give variety and quality," he says adding, "However, Ekta is too strong to be threatened by newcomers. But you never know."

Although Upadhyay argues that given Ekta's success story it is too early to say whether someone can stand up to her, he does admit that if emerging competition results in better quality and variety there will be trouble for her. Several attempts to reach Ekta Kapoor proved futile. Sandiip Sikcand who is said to be building an alternative base to break Ekta's monopoly declined to comment.