The soap rani: Ekta Kapoor

"Though she didnt set out to be a queen bee, Ekta Kapoor overcame early setbacks to create the most prolific production house in the country."

- Sonia Mariam Thomas

A conversation with television czarina Ekta Kapoor about her entrepreneurial journey is quite like an episode from one of the daily soaps she is so well-known for. There’s a seemingly simple character put in an unforeseen situation, who makes winning against all odds her sole mission. The fact that our chat lasted for exactly the half hour I was slotted for  on the schedule proudly displayed at the reception to her office drives home this point. You cannot escape Ekta Kapoor at the Balaji Telefilms office in suburban 

Mumbai — her face and her imprint are everywhere. This is why it is not hard to believe a source when she tells me there is an alarm at the office exclusively to warn people to clear the path when Kapoor is around. But it’s also not hard to believe that even as her worker bees get down to some hard work, the Queen Bee works twice as hard. Uneasy rests the head that wears the crown. In Kapoor’s case, adjusting took a while. “At 17, my father [yesteryears actor Jeetendra] told me to either get married or go work instead of partying like I wanted to. He told me that I won’t get anything other than my pocket money and to earn some extra cash, I worked with an ad agency. I was perfectly fi ne with the situation and thought I would live a very mediocre life, get married at 22 and settle down to a life of enjoyment. Unfortunately, or fortunately, nothing we plan ever happens.” By the time she was 19, her father was offered a chance to create soft ware for a London-based channel TV Asia by his friend Ketan Somaia. The offer was handed off to a reluctant Kapoor, who then came up with concepts for new shows.

Opening Up The Idiot Box