mar26-episod-secrets 2 b revealed-article

March 26 is a day of reckoning for Ekta's multi-tasking production company. On that evening Ekta slaps on a three-tiered soap-scoop merging three of her popular soaps Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kayamath rolled into one…(where the characters of the three soaps with meet and interact, and the three stories will be interlinked). This is being done to counter supposed competition from Zee.

If Zee thought putting on the three-pronged bahu-saga Teen Bahuraniyan, produced by Paresh Rawal, from March 26 was a fitting retort to Ekta Kapoor and Balaji's dominance, they hadn't reckoned with Ekta's competitive ingenuity.

Says Ekta, "This is the mother-merger among soap operas. We have 80 actors for the 90-minute special. We've done up three sets with the same look for three different shootings. Five directors will shoot over five days, 24 hours, for the three units of the special episode. All the creative heads have been assigned a job each. Six editing rooms at Balaji are ready to edit the material round-the-clock."

The entire Balaji office wears an ultra-festive look. It's as though they've just discovered the cure for a very rare virus. Says Ekta, "Yeah, there's a keeda in all of us at Balaji to excel. My creative heads like Nivedita Basu are burning the midnight oil for this merger-special. Our company has been split into five different functional departments to cope with the 90-minute special. We wanted to show Star that we can give them the mother of all soap operas. We want to do an episode that will be remembered for at least a year."

What Zee intends to do about this sudden revenue on their new soap-shopping plans is unclear. But one thing is for certain. Ekta Kapoor plans to retain the title of the queen of competitive creativity.

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