I NEVER GET ANGRY ON MONEY, I GET ANGRY ON PRINCIPLES
Shobha Kapoor always steps out of her house dressed formally. She has a fetish for jewellery and trusts her sixth sense that has helped her to avoid mishaps. She is honest and is angry when she is hurt. She has allowed her daughter Ekta Kapoor to make mistakes to grow and knows that the mother-daughter duo make a great partnership. Even though she would enjoy talking to the media as superstar Jeetendra’s wife, she allowed Ekta to become the face and voice of Balaji. She talks about her grooming Ekta, plans for Tusshar and how today she feels let down by UTV not keeping their side of the commitment made to her. Excerpts:
How did you get into television? I was an airhostess and courted Jeetuji for 13 years before we got married. I am a Sindhi and my nana was a fantastic businessman from Karachi. My mother was a working woman. So my working capacity comes from her and the business acumen from him. I have always been a business person in my mind. Post marriage, I built my house in Hyderabad, then ran a boutique in Juhu and then built our Juhu home. My husband Jeetendra’s career was going topsy-turvy in the early 90s. Ekta was growing up and Tusshar was studying in the US. Jeetuji got an offer to do a television show and we asked a friend of ours, who was running TV Asia in London, for his advice. He dissuaded him from acting and instead asked him to produce television content for him. Within two months, we started our production house in 1994. Ekta was 19 then. Our friend soon sold TV Asia to Zee TV and did not need the content anymore. But, I had produced a lot of content and put all my savings into it and had to fend for myself. After struggling for a year, we sold our shows to different channels and, by 1996, we were ruling television. All this happened from the garage of my house (a basement, which was also a car park) from where I ran my office for six years. We then took a loan against our house and made Balaji house and moved here in 2000. From the day we moved here, we got the contract of Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. We started doing double the shows we were doing earlier and there came a time when the first 37 top shows in terms of TRP were ours.
Let’s talk about the motherdaughter jodi? Ekta is the creative one and I manage the monies. When we were in the basement, we did not have funds and the channels would pay us later, so I would take bank loans to produce. Of course, the first few crores were given to us by Jeetuji. Ekta, being a creative person, needed the support of somebody who understood her and trusted her and who else better than her mother. We understand each other and argue with each other and fight a lot, but eventually, we are mother and daughter and cannot sulk with each other beyond a day. I give in to her. I have my way when it comes to business, but I have to understand her point of view. First, Ekta was holding my finger. Now, I am holding hers. I need her to tell me what else has changed. I believe in emotion and have premonitions, but trust her judgement as far as creative is concerned and she is someone who is today. I put her in the front, as I wanted the business to be futuristic and not stagnant. With mother and daughter, there is no ego related to popularity or any other thing. That is why the partnership works between us and both of us cannot pretend. Surprisingly, her creative instincts were there right from the beginning. I called her from London to tell her about starting our company and to look for people and by the time I came back, she had already started shooting and said to me, ‘Mom give me the money.’ As usual, her first serial was re-shot as she did not like her director, but she learnt from mistakes and that show went on to become the top show on the 10 pm slot. I am strong and proud of what I did. I was the bread-earner looking after my family and that made me happy. I went through a phase where I did not have the loads of money I was used to and also had to sell some jewellery to raise money, but, emotionally, it did not bother me. I knew the entry fee was high, but we got both recognition and money from the time Kyunkii… happened. And then we got listed and that is how the growth happened. I wanted Ekta to be the face and the future of the company. She has to speak and prove herself. I know she has always got angry due to non-performance. But when people have performed, she is only ready to take them to the sky and, in fact, she overdoes it.
Why did you think of moving from television to films? Due to Ekta. We did our first film called Kyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahi Bolta in 2001 with my personal money. We were already listed by then and did not have the experience of making films and so didnot want to risk public money. Luckily, we came out quits. And, in fact, in the re-runs, it made money. We then formed Balaji Motion Pictures and started making films from 2005. Luckily, we have not made losses in any of the films. The only loss I made was in Kucch To Hai, but that was made earlier from personal account.
Did you get angry with Ekta when she lost money in one of the films? I never get angry on money. I get angry on principles. Money comes and goes and every film is an experiment and you can’t get the formula right always. As a producer, I am happy with the way things have moved. We have made profits on most of our films. Looking ahead, we will make lots of films and are looking at growth in motion pictures. Ekta is turning out to be an interesting leader. She is able to handle directors and give them their space. Ten years ago, she was temperamental and too busy with television. I am very proud of The Dirty Picture and Once Upon A Time series. I am not the LSD type that Ekta makes, but am happy to produce the variety we are producing. You can’t grow if you do not allow your child to walk. And that is how you will have a happy home. A happy home is more important than the business.
Your film was originally slated to release on Eid, yet you decided to move the release by a week to Independence Day. Do you regret your decision? In my life, I have seen business getting affected by two films clashing with each other. There should be no ego in decisions like these. I wanted to be the more graceful and understanding one in shifting our date. I called UTV and they happily came to my house and committed that they would give us the screens we wanted on Independence Day if we were to shift our date. The heads of distribution of both the companies then had several meetings. Screen locations and screen counts were discussed in detail. A proper plan was put in place. Only then did I convince Ekta and the team to move the release date, after which Akshay was spoken to. Prior to the release of our film, we called UTV on numerous occasions, but there was no response from them. In a meeting on the 13th, UTV confirmed that they would honour their commitment. The same afternoon the commitment was withdrawn. I felt hugely let down. I cannot say anything to anybody and cannot correct anybody’s doing, but was shocked and disappointed that the spoken word does not hold any value in our industry today. That was never the case in our times. Clearly, times have changed.
Any plans for Tusshar? I have supported Ekta in setting up her business and now I am supporting Tusshar in doing the same. Simultaneously, both the kids will be doing their own thing, so that one does not latch on to the other. I want him to not be dependent on Balaji and, maybe, once he makes his own films, we could also buy his films. He is a business management student from the US and his numbers are perfect. Ekta is a creative person and needs a person to handle the numbers. He is ready to take off and take my seat.
Shobha Kapoor
Shobha Kapoor
No comments:
Post a Comment