From an relaxed 16-year-old to a young entrepreneur running an kingdom today, Ekta Kapoor has come a lengthy way. The journey wasn’t effortless, but her talent to go all out and attain her dreams has made this promising.
At 16, Ekta Kapoor was like any other teenager looking to go in front a freezing out life. But soon things altered. Ekta Kapoor got serious about her job and slowly and steadily set out to achieve her dreams. Ekta Kapoor dreamt big, but she dreamt the achievable. And she is at present ruling an empire. Ekta has had her share of ups and downs, but at the end of it all what mattered was her grit to fulfill her ambitions. Here’s her story in her own words...
Those early days were no cakewalk:
I wasn’t much of dreamer initially. I started dreaming only when my work started happening. When I was 16, all I thought about was eating good food, basically just relaxing. I was like this youngster who was looking to make around 20,000 a month, so that I could have a happy fun disco-pubbing lifestyle. When I was 18 we planned our venture. My dad said this is a big opportunity and put a lot of money in this company. That was in 1994 that we set up Balaji Telefilms. The company was losing money because I had made some pilots and they didn’t go on air. My pilots were ok, not really amazing. My first six pilots were were not approved. Money got clogged. My dad’s career at the time was not peaking, they were his last few acting years. Money was important to us and here I was losing more money. I kept telling myself ‘What have I done? I’m not good for this. I’m not good for anything in life’.
First breakthrough:
I decided I had to do something. My mind used to constantly think of ideas. I used to think I’ll tell it this way, I’ll tell it that way. Sometimes I’d come up with concepts, sometimes with stories. I knew we had lost a lot of money. I had to do something and win back our money. So that was the time I had my first dream. I just wanted to get back 60 lakhs that had gone down and wanted to make a hit TV show. I always dreamt in installments. I never dreamt at that time that I would start a big company. I never even could dream of that. It was just too far. As I said I had so many ideas in my mind, every week I had a new idea. I had only two lakhs left. That’s when we made Hum Paanch. Two channels vied for it and eventually it came on one of them. Hum Paanch was smooth sailing. By the eight or ninth episode it was a hit! Then three months later when Mano Ya Na Mano was aired even that was a big hit.
Turning point:
However, again my career slowed down for a long time. That’s when I was hoping another show of mine would be on air. My friend Savree, now wife of Sameer Nair, met me. she told me her channel had big plans. She said if you can manage to make your show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi popular and match its TRPs to your show Koshish Ek Aasha, Sameer will show you the stars. I remember I was walking up Tirupati and praying to God that Kyunki... becomes a hit. Of course the thought of its TRPs matching Koshish seemed impossible. But I was hoping. I was dreaming. I looked up to the skies and kept telling God ‘Please please God if this show gets high TRPs I’ll get a lot of work’. It happened! Kyunki... became a big hit. Dreams give you hope and if hope is alive, everything is alive. In 2000, I had this dream that we should have a foreign investor investing in the company. If that happened I knew I’d be able to make 7 to 8 shows at one time. When later we got foreign investors I was ecstatic. My dream had come true!
Support unlimited:
All this has been possible because of the support that I got. My mum, who took over with me when things were going bad in the company. My dad who gave us the initial investment and was the face of the company... mum and I at that time didn’t look like people who could do the business! My brother Tusshar has been a constant support to me. Also, Kishen Premnarayan, my dad’s friend, who at a time when I was not getting a chance to make any inroads in the industry gave me a lot of help. Adhikari brothers who actually shot, after being producers themselves, for me because they are my dad’s friends. They actually directed an episode of Mano Ya Na Mano for me which could be aired. That time there was this kind of camaraderie in the industry among producers. I credit my friends, my family and of course my team. There are four others I’d like to mention. Subhash Goel who gave me my first big break. And eventually Kunal Dasgupta, Sameer Nair and Shailaja Kejriwal.
Future Dreams:
My dreams have always been work-related. They have always been achievable. I wouldn’t cry if they didn’t happen. But I believe in striving hard to achieve them. Once I have a set of dreams before me, I don’t look beyond them. I try to reach these dreams, make them reality and then move on to the next set of dreams. As far as my future plans go, currently we are making software in Indonesia and Dubai, but I want them to become as big as our Mumbai office. We are
starting a South channel soon. I want us to become big in events and reality TV. This is one set of dreams. The next set which, of course, I’ll take up after these, is international presence of Indian television, have Latin American tie-ups, make Hollywood films. I dream of making a company which is creatively independent with the best creative talent in the country all housed under one banner (smiles).
Coping with insecurities:
I believe that anything that goes up has to come down. But I always remember what my dad said: ‘This too shall pass’. Good, bad, ugly...everything will pass. Although these are strong logics when things happen to you they do affect you. But life is afterall a lot of experiences put into one. Any kind of shakeup is an experience that you will cherish all your life. As far as insecurity goes, I am quite insecure as a person. My insecurity fuels a sense of determination, a sense of passion and that passion is what takes you forward. I try to work on my insecurities and make it work for me. The base is insecurity!
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the Holy Prostitute will be held at her shrine
and all young women who were married this
year will assemble there to invoke her blessings for a long
and happy married life, just as all other married women of
the locality have done before them year after year.
On the Holy Prostitute’s day all new wives put on
their bridal clothes and jewellery and bedeck themselves
in the gayest fashion and go out barefooted all the way
from the city to do homage to their sister of revered
memory. The pageant of the brides is led by elderly women
to what is known as the sanctuary of the shrine in which
the annual ceremony is held. The older woman cannot
gain admittance into the sanctuary on pain of ill-luck
overtaking their married life. In fact, no married women
can enter that place more than once in her lifetime and
entry therein of widows and unmarried girls is absolutely
forbidden. Men, however, have free ingress and agress,
this being about the only place where a mixed meeting
can be held. Otherwise, according to the local custom,
men and women have no social intercourse.
The ceremony of invocation is a short but impressive
one. It is held after the sun has set but while there is still
daylight. The young ladies arrange themselves in a circular
formation round the alter and light camphor lamps in brass
plates which have been specially polished for the occasion.
The offerings consist of saffron, fruit and sweets. The
congregation marches round the alter in a rythmic
movement while the camphor lamps are swayed in a semiecstatic
mood. To the tinkling of the bells tied to the ankles
of the worshippers, there arises a low but melodious chant
of hymns to the Holy Prostitute. When the young ladies
have completed seven circuits they prostrate themselves
on the floor of the sanctuary and in this attitude of humility
say their prayers. After the prayers are concluded, the ladies
arise, place their brass plates along with the camphor lamps
and the offerings on the altar and retire through the door
from which they entered, singing praises of the Holy
Prostitute. They sprinkle scented water and throw rose
petals on one another as they emerge out of the sanctuary.
Outside, they are met by the older women who were
waiting for their return and are welcomed and
congratulated on the successful completion of the
ceremony. There is great rejoicing and the women forming
themselves into a procession march out of the shrine
singing songs specially written for the occasion. The
menfolk, who have by now left the shrine by another door,
join the party of women and after a short period of further
rejoicing they disperse.
The origin of the ceremony is lost in antiquity. The
story of the Holy Prostitute is partially inscribed on a block
of white stone which is kept under lock and key by the
keeper of the shrine and is itself an object of great reverence.
All attempts at fixing the date of the inscription have proved
abortive and the present-day research has achieved nothing
beyond guessing what is obvious from the text itself, that
the inscription was not made contemporaneously with the
events which it records. The language used is far too primitive
to make a coherent reading and the names used contain so
many impossible consonants that the tongue cannot bear
the twist to pronounce them. The title or the inscription,
when translated, approximates to “Pious Script”. A detailed
examination of it is generally difficult because the keeper
allows “a special display of the Pious Scripts” (as he puts it)
for a price which is commensurate with the pocket of the
visitor and the duration of time for which the “display” is
given. And the keeper is very greedy, though, I think, not
without reason, because such “special displays” are his
only means of subsistence.
The story inscribed in stone has, however, been pieced
together by a local archaeologist and a translation of it is
hung in the library room of the shrine. Here is what the
inscription says:-
Our prince had fought long and fought well. But
presently he found himself outnumbered and outflanked.
Being surrounded, he had to flee for life leaving his
daughter his brother’s daughter and his sister’s daughter,
behind. The invading horde soon marched into our ancient
city and converted all women and children into slaves.
The men had fled. Three princesses whom none could
excel in beauty and in virtue found themselves at the mercy
of the victors. .......
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