All hail the prolific, eclectic Ekta Kapoor
All hail the prolific, eclectic Ekta Kapoor
There's something quite fantastic about the limitlessness of Balaji Telefilms,
about how defiantly they refuse to box themselves into a type.' 'If Kapoor sees something in a film, or an idea, she will ensure it reaches the
most eyeballs -- by any means necessary.'
Raja Sen decodes Ekta Kapoor.
some make sleazy horror for a quick buck, some work on buddy comedies. They
identify a market, find their audience, and develop a system of catering to their
crowd. It is a situation beneficial to audiences and filmmakers because they know what to
expect from the banner, and to the producer because they have a system in place
for making and marketing a certain kind of movie. Most producers are not Ekta Kapoor.
In the last decade, Kapoor has supported the most bizarrely eclectic cross-section
of cinema, supporting directors as varied as Dibakar Banerjee and Milan Luthria
(for Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.)
She has flown the indie flag with movies like Shor In The City and Ragini MMS,
but constantly alternated these films with giant hyper-commercial releases like
Ek Villain and Shootout At Wadala. Anything, it appears, goes. (Yes, even in
terms of quality.) There's something quite fantastic about the limitlessness of Balaji Telefilms,
about how defiantly they refuse to box themselves into a type. Just this year,
they funded the hideous Azhar and the sensational Udta Punjab, and up next is the
decidedly bizarre Tiger Shroff starrer, A Flying Jatt.
'People thought I only knew about sarees and jewellery and high-power dramas. They
assumed I'd make only those kinds of films,' Kapoor told Filmfare.
'I knew I wouldn't be taken seriously. So I joined hands with someone like the
talented Dibakar Banerjee for Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Also, this place is full of '
the big boys club.' All actors belong to a 'clique.' A new person has problems
getting in. I had no clue how I'd manage. I approached many actors and they were
patronising, like "Of course, you should do films." They were encouraging but no
one actually said yes to a film.'
One of the ways Kapoor broke up the 'big boys club' sensibility she mentions
is by walking the talk and making sure Balaji Telefilms brought a different level of
professionalism to first television and then film productions.
Balaji remains a massive creative gateway for young people to enter the industry,
a company that makes them work enormously hard but is uniquely applauded in
the business for being a company that pays well, and on time. Say what you will of Kapoor's long-running soaps, but they upped the bar in terms
of television production and professionalism. Now, as a producer who is game for absolutely anything, Kapoor enjoys a unique
position at a time when so many bright talents are trying to get off the ground.
Her style has been criticised by those who have worked with her as fascistic and
overbearing, and while she may not be the kind of producer who lets directors do
their own thing without creative interference, she is also not the kind of producer
who will let a film die. If Kapoor sees something in a film, or an idea, she will ensure it reaches the most
eyeballs -- by any means necessary. Kapoor's next productions include Mohit Suri's Half-Girlfriend, Tigmanshu Dhulia's
Milan Talkies, Anurag Singh's Super Singh and Shashanka Ghosh's Veere Di Wedding.
Sure, there's a chance none of these films will actually be good -- but even from
the titles its clear that they are certainly going to be drastically different
from each other. You can say many things about Kapoor -- and the buzz in the industry is venomous enough to guarantee
she's ticking people off -- but the fact is that she gets results, and she gets them by tearing up
the conventional rule book. This we must applaud, for it is fascinating to watch a leader who
refuses to play it safe.
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