celebrating ganapati with ekta..article.

Celebrating Ganapati at Ekta's new home

After the celebrations, Ekta will be off to Tirupati to pray for the success of her new serial Karam Apnaa Apnaa

Subhash K Jha

This Ganapati festival is very special for Ekta Kapoor. "It's my first Ganpati in my new home. However, I can't celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi as extensively as I'd like to. I'll just have a puja in the morning, dinner with close friends and then I'll be off to Tirupati the next day to pray for the success of my new serial Karam Apnaa Apnaa."

As for Ekta's new serial Karam Apnaa Apnaa which goes on air next week, Ekta says it's a full-on Balaji brand of entertainment. "Karam … is a simple, identifiable story. We wanted viewers to get something to chew on. I won't call this show different or out of this world. I'm accused of becoming distanced from reality in my recent shows. Well, Karam ….is real. But I can't move too far away from my style. Finally my sensibilities will show on my shows."

And why Iqbal Khan as the main lead? "Well Karam …. will have its hero in an extra-marital affair. My hero should look like someone for whom two women, rather best friends would fight over. Iqbal fits the bill." Iqbal's other daily Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai for Ekta on Sony will go off air in a couple of months. Ekta says she hardly has anything to do with the new Smriti vehicle. "Thodisi Zameen Thodasa Aasman which went on Star earlier this month is very unlike what I do. Full credit to the writer Kamlesh Pandey, Smriti Irani for this authentic serial. As for me, I've just lent my name to Thodisi Zameen…."

On the other hand, Karam Apnaa Apnaa is entirely Ekta's baby. We hunted in places as distant as Simla, Jaipur, Surat, Pune and Delhi and finally we found Pallavi Subhash in Mumbai. We wanted a face that was pretty and yet like the girl-next-door. Then one day I happened to see a show called Tumhari Disha in Zee. Pallavi came on for about thirty seconds. And I said, 'This is the girl I want for Karam ….' My mom nearly threw a fit. Can you imagine? We hunt high and low and finally we find her in Mumbai — on television."