Being Ekta Kapoor

And yet, Ekta Kapoor does not appear to be in any mood to enjoy her success. When she is not chanting for divine protection she is reportedly slogging her butt off. Call her for an interview and her secretary stalls. Not today, not tomorrow, she needs a ‘good moment’ to mention it to Ekta, she says. The good moment never arrives and when you hear of Ms Kapoor’s arduous schedule you get a pretty good idea why. She has just finished a round of publicity interviews, she has begun shooting for her next film (the last one was just released but was booed out); she is in ‘creative’ meetings (the last one ended at 8 am). There are rumours of flare -ups and violent tantrums on the set. What is driving Ekta Kapoor so hard?

To some extent Ekta Kapoor is a creation of her times. The sudden burgeoning of television into a multi-channel industry a decade ago was bound to result in a need for cheap, plentiful programming. If Ekta Kapoor did not exist, the industry would have had to invent her. For over the last few years, the superbrat has determinedly moulded and pummelled a whole assembly line of entertainment personnel into shape, with help from her mother, the daunting Shobha Kapoor. Her crews work round the clock, often moving from shift to shift without a break. Her attitude to employees — many of whom she appears to have plucked out of thin air — is feudal. When Ketaki Dave, the actress playing a popular part in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi walked out in a celebrated brush-up, Ekta was unfazed. ‘‘The day my serial starts depending on one person for its success, it’ll be an insult to me,’’ she said with what seemed like extreme arrogance at the time. Now her attitude and her sweatshop operation style seem merely an unassailable fact of the tacky, brassy world of the daily television soap.

Her surefootedness is startling in one so young. As Creative Director for Balaji, Ekta Kapoor is deeply involved in every aspect of her shows from script to casting and beyond. There is a streak of omniscience in the manner in which she bumped off the Mihir character in KSBKBT and later brought him back to life; in the way she instinctively picks the right actor for a part; and the brazenness with which she has ridden out criticism, including from women’s activists who find her succession of silk clad, sindoor-dripping heroines regressive. Not that she has lacked for supporters. There are many who argue that her serials are actually progressive in that they provide women viewers in conservative real life situations a safe setting in which to confront uncomfortable issues.

For her part there is little evidence that Ekta comprehends the ideological issues involved in her position. Given her unfettered access to the mind of middle-class India (she made 23 of the most viewed 50 shows in cable and satellite households in 2001 and still occupies 14 top slots in the Hindi market), her responsibility is indeed enormous. Yet her thoughts, when expressed, are confused and contradictory. She will appear liberal one moment when talking of Kkusum having ‘‘her own feelings, desires and aspirations which every woman can relate to’’ but will slip into conservative mode the next with her spiel that in a family ‘‘women have to be shown to be extra attentive and respective (sic).’’

She will talk about 90 per cent of India living in joint families and then claim her audience is nuclear families watching what ‘‘they don’t have.’’ She will talk of representing ‘real life’ and selling ‘‘dreams with spurts of reality’’ in the same breath; she will assert that ‘‘the story is king’’ and then describe how she changes storylines to suit audience reaction. Other instances of immaturity abound. Episodes of her shows these days blatantly promote her brother, Tusshar Kapoor, an upcoming film actor; she even once included a bitchy reference in one of her scripts to a television anchor who had dared to make fun of Master Kapoor.

Her lifestyle is notoriously erratic — turning up for work in a pair of grey track pants at midday and watching edits past three in the morning — a fact that many such as actress Shweta Tiwari excuse on the grounds that ‘‘she’s a hard taskmaster and wants perfection. That’s why her serials are all hits.’’ People claim Ekta is a mass of nerves each time a new show of hers goes on air, despite her proven track record. And competition even in the slightest form is said to set her teeth on edge.

Superstition is an overwhelming feature as well. The fixation with the letter ‘K’ and her belief in numerology is well-known but Ekta is also willing to put herself through immense hardship such as walking long distances often through desolate religious trails to ward off bad luck.

Despite her penchant for western-style business suits she is surrounded by shrines at home and at work, tends to greet good news with a rousing ‘Jai Mata Di!’ and wear sacred threads on her person while her office is stuffed to the hilt with Feng Shui miscellanea.

And yet, despite her excesses, many point forgivingly to Ekta’s childlike enthusiasm. ‘‘She is always learning,’’ says Rekha Nigam, former senior Vice-President at Sony. This much is evident from her openness to new challenges. Her latest serial to be launched on Sony is a partial break from the past with lavish sets and extravagant add-ons. Her foray into film production too, despite the lukewarm response to the home production, Kuch To Hai, is a growing commitment. So what goads her on?

As a child Ekta Kapoor was grossly overweight, lonely and given to fantasising; a favourite fantasy being of a chocolate house which she could eat her way through. At 19 she went on a weight loss programme and never looked back. Now she talks of making her television shows ‘an obsession.’

It’s an addiction she is passing on.