SECTION – D

The program listings on various channels in 2002 show the hold BTL had on television viewers. Her serials aired on channels like Star Plus,Zee TV, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), Doordarshan and Metro TV,⁵ as well as regional channels  like Gemini, Sun, Vijaya TV, Udaya TV, etc. BTL grew rapidly since 1994, when it first began operations.

The rate of growth increased after the company went in for a public issue in 2000.

From a modest beginning of 8.5 programming hours per week in 2000, BTL achieved about 35 programming hours per week across all channels in 2002.

Most of the achievements of BTL could be traced back to Ekta, the creative director at BTL. In 2001, Ekta was selected by the Confederation of Indian Industries, (CII) to head the committee on entertainment. She also received a number of awards over the years. Some of the awards are: “Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year” (in 2001), “Corporate Excellence” from Bharat Petroleum (in 2002), “Rajiv Gandhi Award” (in 2002). In 2001, Asiaweek magazine included her in the list of “Asia’s 50 most Powerful Communicators.”

Ekta Kapoor is the daughter of Ravinder Kapoor (popularly known as Jeetendra), a Hindi movie star from the 1960s to 1980s. Her mother, Shobha Kapoor, is the CEO of BTL and her younger brother Tushar Kapoor is an actor in Hindi movies. According to Ekta, she had a childhood which was “materially easy but emotionally difficult.’

During her childhood she was extremely obese and suffered from low self esteem. She was a very pampered child and was never oriented towards any kind of achievement.

A student of Bombay Scottish school and Mithibai College, Ekta was a poor student and content with getting the minimum passing grades.

Her family wanted her to enroll in an MBA program but she was not interested in a theoretical education and had no clue about what she wanted to do in her life. “I was fat, lazy and absolutely aimless in life. I had no direction or focus. I did not believe in excellence or hardwork,” she said. Her only interest was watching television, which she did whenever she could. She says she felt guilty about disappointing her parents, but was not able to do much to rectify the situation. On completing her higher secondary education, she joined FAR Productions, an advertising agency, and worked as an assistant model coordinator for a short time in an attempt to do something worthwhile. The turning point in Ekta’s life came in the early 1990s (she was about 19 years old then), when Ketan Sommaya (a non resident Indian) requested her father to produce some television software, for a channel he was starting…

Ekta’s father , understanding her craving to do something worthwhile, asked  her to get involved in the production of the necessary software. At that time  she knew nothing about television production , but she produced six pilots, each with about three episodes, at  a cost of roughly Rs. 5 Millions. Her pilots were not successful, but her father encouraged her to make more software. In 1994, Ekta’s father set up BTL as a pvt Ltd Co. The first serial Mano Ya Na Mano aired in 1995. Ekta’s first major success with Hum Paanch, had a success of 5 years on Zee Tv.

Ekta has had to face a lot of flak for her serials as well as her attitude. On the human resources front, Ekta was totally unpredictable. She acquired the image of an ogre and most of her subordinates were reluctant to approach her cabin…

According to some analysts, Ekta was successful because she was present in the right place at the right time and was able to identify a niche market and cater to it successfully… She worked relentlessly foregoing holidays, thinking out concepts, casting, shooting …

BTL achieved a lot within a short period of time. Her serials regularly featured in the top ten programs of the week and got the highest TRP ratings.

Questions

1. Trace the entrepreneurial qualities and discuss.
2. What is unique about Ekta’s saga of success?
3. What has been the contribution to the entertainment industry?