Small Screen’s Big Star

Krishna Gopalan unspools Ekta Kapoor frame by frame

You could be watching any channel on any given day at any given time and you're sure to run into familiar characters of the big Balaji family. Balaji Telefilms', creative director Ekta Kapoor, a virtual `soap' factory eats, breathes and sleeps her television serials and that's pretty much what she's all about.

You just `Kan't’ miss her numerous soaps as her audiences cut across social strata and several parts of the country. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and the whole gamut of `K' fixated titles have catapulted her to the top charts of the small screen.

With an action packed production house, no two days in Ekta's life seem to be the same. There is action while shooting, relief at the thought of a well executed scene and joy on it being appreciated by all. Of course it also needs her to take off to other parts of the country and the world but `most of my travel is work-related,' she admits. At least twice a year, Ekta is in some part of the world shooting serials. Last year, Kyunki... and Kasauti... were shot in Australia for which Ekta spent about two weeks in Australia and New Zealand. "I have been lucky to go to lots of picturesque locations but Sydney is the city that I really like," she exclaims.

But funnily enough Ekta doesn't really like travelling. Her real nemesis while travelling is the sheer thought of flying! "I am really scared of flying and start to scream when there are turbulences. It is so much more comforting when I see Indians on the aircraft." Not surprisingly then her preferred airline is Air-India. "Last time however, it was Emirates," she says. "Honestly, I prefer travelling by road. This year I have travelled on work to Chennai and Delhi but that's pretty much it," she adds.

Apart from flying blues, Ekta is very particular about her travel arrangements. With a tight schedule that leaves no room for a flexible or badly prepared itinerary, on touchdown she really expects a picture perfect travel schedule laid out for her. "The most important thing is that all bookings should be made in advance and everything should be in place when I land. Otherwise, I am not at all fussy about the choice of aircraft or which hotel I am going to stay in. For instance, it does not have to be a five-star hotel. What is important to me is that it must be a clean hotel and should be reserved in advance. Long flights, leave you quite exhausted and an effort to sort out other things is just not worth it," she says.

Recalling an instance in Bangkok, she says it took forever to cover a short distance. "Traffic in Bangkok is like Mumbai. What I therefore look for in a hotel is that it should be close to my place of shoot," she points out.

One really wonders if tight schedules leave her time for anything else. "Sure breaks are possible in the midst of business. Saturdays are generally all about pub-hopping and eating at different restaurants," says Ekta. As a result, she is eclectic about her food preferences. "I love Thai and Italian food when I am travelling and the one thing I really avoid when I'm abroad is Indian food," she emphatically says.

So while most Indians have major reservations about travelling due to non-availability of Indian food, Ekta's only serious travel deterrent is the fear of flying.

Although, this serial queen has had to do her bit of globe-trotting to execute her shoots.

Her serials have been shot in most parts of Europe, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. But if given a chance to travel at leisure where would it be? The answer was prompt, "Egypt and South America although I know it's not going to be easy to get away for a while because there is so much work here," she says.

With the number of soaps Balaji is producing at the moment it does seem like a dream to take off on a break and the next few months seem like a patch work of scriptwriters' meetings and production schedules. Seems like Ekta's looking ahead to a few odd months of all work and no play.