Balaji - Ekta

Balaji Telefilms: Kahaani Aurat Kii


By VICKEY LALWANI

Posted on 9 September 2003

Success comes with its fare share of criticism. But for sheer intensity, nothing can rival the kind of barbs that have been regularly hurled at production house Balaji Telefilms and its creative director Ekta Kapoor, the chief chef of that unique concoction called the great Indian soap.

A comment by Nikhat Kazmi in the 7 September edition of the Sunday Times of India is telling: "The noble Indian woman, as defined by the mandarins in the soap department, is a joyless, sexless being that spends most of its time whining, lecturing and playing a 100 per cent wimp."

Much and more has been written in similar vein about the Balaji serials and the characters protrayed in them. But there is no getting away from one bald truth... this production house has remained No.1 for three uninterrupted years, and continuing.

Just what is it about the Balaji product that has kept the Hindi viewer enthralled and still hungry for more of this "retrograde tripe" as the critics term it? indiantelevision.com attempts to understand what could be the possible factors that have kept Balaji continuously at the crest of the TRP wave.

First up is the realisation that the Balaji saga is the story of two women not one. While Ekta may be the face that represents Balaji Telefilms, there is another lead who is playing a parallel role in this mega blockbuster. Ekta Kapoor's mother - Shobhaa Kapoor.

Let's see how the two joined forces to realise the success of a fairy tale kind.

Starting off when she was just 17 years old, Ekta worked, ate and slept television - thinking of concepts, casting, styling, selecting technicians, shooting and scheduling, marketing and acquiring the new skills required to succeed. A Jeetendra-Shobha product biologically, and a Bombay Scottish School product educationally, she joined Mithibai College, but lazed around and didn't give a damn about academics, unlike her brother Tusshar who had wept even when he acquired 96 per cent marks in college! She desperately wanted to do something on television, but didn't know what. For years, she loitered around the shoots of Kailash Surendranath, ads as well as feature films maker - but to no avail.

Around the same time, Shobhaa Kapoor was also toying with the idea of getting into television. The lady wanted to produce TV serials. She had a vision that television industry would grow by leaps and bounds in years to come. She discussed this with her husband, Jeetendra.

Seeing his daughter's predicament and wife's enthusiasm, Pappa Jeetendra who was by no means an MCP (unlike many of the characters protrayed in the Balaji soaps) , encouraged them to produce a TV serial as soon as they could and even offered to invest in it.

Realising the worth of his contribution and concern, the two women got down to business. They made six pilots and three episodes for each pilot, running up a bill of nearly Rs 5 million. All of them were rejected. But Jeetendra told them not to lose heart and offered them more money to try again.

Thus came Hum Paanch, their first success - a sitcom mind you. The soap story was still to come.

Then there was simply no looking back. Hum Paanch changed Ekta and Shobha completely. Within months, the gawky teenager metamorphosed into an ambitious woman. She was craving for more, open to improvement and determined to make it to the top. As for Shobha, she'd tasted success and was thirsting for more.

It was then that she asked her sister Mrs Sood to team up with her. She and her sister were running a boutique in Juhu at that time. She told her sister "Don't wait for things to happen. Let's make things happen."

Balaji Telefilms had arrived.

So, what is it that has taken Ekta and Shobha to where they are perched today? What makes them tick? What's the formula, or is there one at all? That, there is:

* Tough taskmasters.
Their crew works round the clock, often moving from shift to shift without a break. Their attitude with employees - many of whom they appear to have plucked out of thin air - is said to be feudal.

When Ketaki Dave, the actress who played a popular part in Ekta's serial, Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu, walked out in a celebrated brush-up, Ekta was unfazed. "The day my serial starts depending on any one person for its success, it'll be an insult to me," she had said with what seemed like extreme arrogance at the time.

In the past, quite a few of their shows have aired episodes blatantly promoting Tusshar Kapoor. In fact, once even a bitchy reference had been included in one of their scripts, to a television anchor who had dared to make fun of Tusshar.

There is a streak of omniscience in the manner in which the Mihir character was bumped off in Kyunki... and later brought
back to life; in the way the right actor for a part is picked instinctively; and the brazenness with which criticism has been ridden out, including from women's activists who find their succession of silk clad, sindoor-dripping heroines regressive.

No wonder that in 10 years, they have determinedly moulded and pummelled a whole assembly line of entertainment personnel into shape.

* Mindsets directing them to cater to every section of society
Try talking to Ekta and reading her mind at the same time. Her thoughts, when expressed, are confused and contradictory. This has in fact turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Ekta is for the classes as well as the masses. She caters to every segment of society. She will appear liberal a moment when talking of Kkusum "having aspirations which every woman can relate to" but will slip into a conservative mode the next, with her spiel that in a family "women have to be shown to be extra attentive and respective."

She will talk about 90 per cent of India living in joint families and then claim her audience are nuclear families watching what "they don't have." She will talk of representing "real life" and selling "dreams with spurts of reality"while in the same breath assert that "the story is king" and then describe how she "changes story-lines to suit audience reactions."

Shobhaa is a little more clear in her 'thoughts' (or should we say 'expression'), but she arrives at the same destination as her daughter. "I am targeting women of every kind. I don't know why people's jaws drop open when they see a vamp or two in some of our shows. If there are good women, there are bad women too. And I am targeting women specifically because TV is a women-dominated medium. The number of women who see the serials are far more than the number of men doing the same."

* Lifestyles
No so-sha (showoff). Ekta often turns up for work in a pair of track pants at midday and watches edits past three in the morning, how many TV serial makers or even top film directors can lay claim to beating that?

Recently, Ekta returned from a trip to Nashik at 2:30 am and got the message that an executive producer was waiting to discuss a story. She had an option of going straight to her room and hitting the sack, but pray, did she?

Shweta Tiwari, who was launched as an actress in Ekta's Kasautii Zindagi Kay, says, "Ekta wants perfection." But Tiwari's description leaves a lot unsaid. To describe Ekta precisely is to say she is a bundle of nerves each time a new show of hers goes on air. Competition, even in the slightest form, is said to set her teeth on edge.

When asked how she feels with Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand giving her competition, she simply flashes a smile - but one can't ignore the fire in her eyes, the burning desire to win all the time.

As for Shobha, she leaves home every afternoon and does not return before nine. She asks, "I have so much money. Do I really need to slog so much? Real passion is a continuous process. I have real passion for work."

* Horoscope/Numerology
They are surrounded by shrines at home and at work. They tend to greet good news with a rousing 'Jai Mata Di!' The office is stuffed to the hilt with Feng Shui miscellanea. The fixation with the letter 'K' and their belief in numerology is well-known. Ekta is also willing to put herself through immense hardships like walking long distances often through desolate religious trails, to ward off bad luck.

According to numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani, "We were introduced to Ekta by Rakesh Roshan during the days of
Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Ever since we gave a numerological spell check to one of her serials, she has always consulted us, and importantly, listened to us. She never questions us even if a particular serial does not do well."

"Let us not discount the fact that good luck smiles only on those who work hard. Ekta is a workaholic and that's why our numerology on the spellings of her serials hits the bull's eye more often than not," says Jumaani.

Ektaa's last word on this is, "We are not blind followers of any superstition, but it gives me some sort of psychological
satisfaction. Maybe 'K' suits us. We have made serials like Mano Ya Na Mano, Hum Paanch, Ghar Ek Mandir but now if 'K' spells success, then we shouldn't be cribbing."

* Star Plus
If creativity and numerology go hand in hand for the Kapoor women, one shouldn't lose track of the creativity-promotion combination that is equally if not more critical to this saga of success.

Ekta's own confession: "Today, a production house does not matter as much as it used to. Many shows have been ruined in the past because of atrocious promotion on other channels." She is referring of course to Star Plus, the channel that has been the launch pad for Balaji's ascent to glory.

Over to Star India senior V-P content and communication Tarun Katial. He says matter-of-factly, "Ekta has lots of ideas. Balaji Telefilms, is unarguably one of the best TV production houses in the country. We have faith in her products. When we take up projects which we have faith in, the marketing is automatically of the highest order."

According to Katial, "The product you believe in becomes your baby. You don't want it to get hurt. Sometimes, she comes up with a fully cooked product. We don't have to contribute much. Sometimes, she comes up with a semi-cooked idea, which we think can be improved on. She is open to suggestions and that's what makes her successful. Often we take joint decisions, even if it may be related to changing of tracks. We meet up and lay down the strategies for future. Balaji Telefilms and Star Plus are like a family."

Here's how the Balaji shows have been faring in the latest ratings stakes

* A note of caution here...
While Star and Balaji continue, as a family, to dish out appetising fare, a few offbeat delectable dishes like Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani on Zee and Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin on Sony have viewers beginning to lick their fingers and ask for more. There are no Banarasi saree clad women on these, nor any simmering domestic politics. The USP of these shows is the experimental concept and handling, and viewer preference is slowly turning in their favour.

Balaji might do well to keep this in mind and their thinking caps on when coming up with new concepts. As they say, the only constant is change. And that applies too, to Indian viewers. Though they may prefer the gradual curve, rather than the about turn.

* To sum up...
According to Prem Kishen, Cinevistaas, "The late actor-director Guru Dutt used to say 'ek achchi film banai nahin jaati, ban jaati hai' (A good film cannot be made, it just happens). He used to say there are lots of factors which go unnoticed, as the director and the artistes eat the cake. He also used to emphasise that luck plays some role in every
endeavour."

Kishen concludes saying, "I feel, Balaji Telefilms is a hit because of a combination of reasons. They are good brains, hard work, channel support, and yes, luck."

And didn't he forget mentioning Jeetendra's name? How many men of today would have allowed his wife and daughter to use his hard-earned money and gamble on their personal aspirations? The adage goes that "Behind every successful man there is a woman", but hasn't the Balaji Telefilms success story proved that even the reverse is true?