Dream catchers
Ekta Kapoor, creative director, Balaji Telefilms, loves challenges as they make her push boundaries, and artist Bharti Kher, explores the world she lives in through her art.
Ekta Kapoor, 43
Creative director, Balaji Telefilms, Mumbai
The Boss Lady pin on her blue dress emphatically reflects the aura that Ekta Kapoor exudes. It's of success, aggression and power; of knowing that she is the uncrowned queen of television and the confidence that she can turn failure into glittering success. She's transformed the face of television programming, launched stars, created records and changed the way India consumes at-home entertainment. She's also been accused of projecting regressive roles for women, of temper tantrums and showdowns. But with 17,000 hours of programming, 150 shows in seven languages, a turnover of `415 crore, top ranks in the popularity charts, bouncing back from losses and sustaining a daily soap for eight years, Kapoor's story is awe-inspiring. "Success brings me a sense of self-worth and achievement, gives me the ability to impact minds and the freedom to choose the life I want," she says. But success is rarely permanent and Kapoor knows that well. When television viewers and channels rejected her domestic dramas, she swiftly jumped on to newer avenues such as movie making and the all-popular digital space with Alt Balaji, last year. "Change is the only constant," she says. That change is noticeable even in her demeanour. She's noticeably calmer, patient and dispassionately analyses her struggles as she traces her journey from being an eager-to-find-work teenager to the empress of entertainment. In 1994, her family had ventured into creating content for a UK-based channel but the deal fell through. "We had content but no buyers," she says. Faced with losses and the worry that her father's "earnings had been jeopardised", the daughter of actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor jumped into the business, determined to find new opportunities and undo the losses. "As women, we are born combats with the ability to multitask," she says. The infectious buzz at the Balaji House, Mumbai, is a far cry from the mood and ambience in the office as Kapoor had first walked into the Zee TV office in late 1994 with a pilot episode of Hum Paanch. She had arrived there after offering the first copy at Siddhivinayak Temple, a ritual she is known to follow till today, and stood for 30 minutes filling up a form. "No one knew me there as Jeetendra's daughter," she says. Kapoor had lost `50 lakh on Itihaas, a show on Doordarshan and needed new work. "We had to mortgage our house to be able to pay salaries. My mother said we can't be entrepreneurs if we cannot pay our people," she says. Hum Paanch was runaway success but Kapoor "got typecast" for four years as someone who could only make comedy. "Channels didn't have faith that I could do drama well which
