Ekta Kapoor
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Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television and film producer, known for her work in Hindi television and Bollywood cinema. She is the founder of Balaji Telefilms Limited, where she serves as joint managing director and creative head. Kapoor began her career at the age of 17 and became known for producing a large number of television soap operas in Hindi, many of which gained significant popularity during the late 1990s and 2000s. Her notable television productions include ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...
'', ''
Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii ''Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii'' ( ''The Story of Each Household'') is an Indian soap opera which ran on StarPlus from 16 October 2000 to 9 October 2008. The soap opera was created by Ekta Kapoor and was produced by her production company Balaji Tele ...
'', '' Kasautii Zindagii Kay'', and '' Kahiin To Hoga''. In 2001,
Balaji Motion Pictures Balaji Motion Pictures is an Indian film production and distribution company, subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited, established by Shobha Kapoor and her daughter Ekta Kapoor. Located in Mumbai, it produces and distributes Hindi ...
was launched as a subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which is a film production and distribution company. In addition to television, Kapoor has produced several Hindi films through
Balaji Motion Pictures Balaji Motion Pictures is an Indian film production and distribution company, subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited, established by Shobha Kapoor and her daughter Ekta Kapoor. Located in Mumbai, it produces and distributes Hindi ...
, including ''
The Dirty Picture ''The Dirty Picture'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language Musical film, musical drama film inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, an Indian actress noted for her erotic roles. The filmmakers have clarified that the story is not officially or literal ...
'', '' Lootera'', ''
Main Tera Hero ''Main Tera Hero'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed by David Dhawan, with script and dialogues from Tushar Hiranandani and Milap Zaveri, and produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Motion Pictures. The f ...
'', '' Dream Girl'', ''
Crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...
'', and '' The Sabarmati Report''. In April 2017, she launched
ALTBalaji ALTT is an Indian subscription based video on demand platform which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. Launched on 16 April 2017, ALTBalaji is the group foray into the digital entertainment sphere to create original OTT cont ...
, a
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
platform. In 2022, she and her mother Shobha Kapoor stepped down from operations of ALTBalaji. The platform's management was subsequently taken over by Vivek Koka as Chief Business Officer. In 2017, Kapoor also launched her biography, '' Kingdom of the Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms''. Kapoor was honored with the
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
in 2020 for her work in the field of arts. She is also honored with the 2023
International Emmy Directorate Award The International Emmy Directorate Award is presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and honors individuals or organizations for their outstanding contribution to international television. The awards ceremony has take ...
at the
51st International Emmy Awards The 51st International Emmy Awards ceremony, presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS), took place on November 20, 2023, at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City, in recognition to the best television p ...
.


Personal life

Kapoor is the daughter of actors
Jeetendra Jeetendra (born Ravi Kapoor ; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. He is noted for his acting, style and dance. He has worked in more than Je ...
and Shobha Kapoor. Her younger brother, Tusshar Kapoor, is also a
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
actor. She went to school at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim and attended college at Mithibai College. Kapoor is not married but she has a son named Ravie Kapoor, who was born on 27 January 2019 by surrogacy. She had previously frozen her eggs at the age of 36 and later used in vitro fertilization (IVF) as part of the surrogacy process.


Career

Ekta kapoor started her career at the age of 17, interning with advertisement and feature filmmaker Kailash Surendranath. After obtaining financing from her father, she was a producer under her banner,
Balaji Telefilms Balaji Telefilms is an Indian company that produces Indian soap operas in several Indian languages. Balaji Telefilms also owns Alt Balaji, the platform known for producing adult rated content. Balaji Telefilms also produces reality TV, comedy ...
. Her initial projects were failures, with six of her pilot episodes being rejected, leading to a total loss of . In 1995, '' Mano Ya Na Mano'' was selected by
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
, and her music-based show ''Dhun Dhamaka'' was chosen by
Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...
. Her 1995 sitcom, '' Hum Paanch'' was her first success. In the 2000s, the letter 'K' became her lucky alphabet, and she launched many shows with the first word of every title starting with the same letter, including ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...
'', which broke all records to become the series to attract the highest TRPs in 2000. Other shows beginning with 'K' include ''
Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki ''Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii'' ( ''The Story of Each Household'') is an Indian soap opera which ran on StarPlus from 16 October 2000 to 9 October 2008. The soap opera was created by Ekta Kapoor and was produced by her production company Balaji Tele ...
'', '' Kabhii Sautan Kabhii Sahelii'', '' Kohi Apna Sa'', '' Kaahin Kissii Roz'', '' Kalash'', '' Kasautii Zindagii Kay'', '' Kahiin To Hoga'' and ''
Kasamh Se ''Kasamh Se'' (English title: ''The Promise'') is an Indian soap opera produced by Ekta Kapoor for Balaji Telefilms. The show aired on Zee TV from 16 January 2006 to 12 March 2009, when the series ended due to cost issues. The story is about ...
''. In 2001, she was awarded the title of Best Entrepreneur of the Year. By July 2001, Kapoor was producing more than 30 hours of television shows per week. 20 of her 34 serials were listed as the most popular serials across all major TV channels like Zee TV,
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
,
Star Plus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of family dramas, romantic comedies, youth-oriented reali ...
, and Metro. Her projected turnover for 20002001 was listed as . After establishing herself in Hindi TV serials, she began venturing into other regional languages, starting with the
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
series, ''Kudumbum''. The series became very popular, and she then got it dubbed into
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
and launched it in Hindi as '' Ghar Ek Mandir''. She then ventured into Punjabi,
Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
, Gujarati, and
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
languages. , Kapoor wrote her own scripts despite having writers working for her, taking an active interest in all stages of production, while her mother, Shobha, handled the accounts. Kapoor has thus created and produced more than 130
Indian soap opera Indian television dramas, often called Indian series or serials, are scripted television programs made in India, featuring Indian actors. These dramas are broadcast on Indian television networks. India's first television drama, '' Hum Log'' ( ...
s. Some of her other popular shows include ''
Pavitra Rishta ''Pavitra Rishta'' (International title: ''Sacred Relationship'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language soap opera produced by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms that aired on Zee TV from 1 June 2009 to 25 October 2014 starring Ankita Lokhande, Susha ...
'', '' Bade Acche Lagte Hain'', ''
Yeh Hai Mohabbatein ( ''This Is Love'') is an Indian romance drama produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms, it starred Karan Patel, Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya, Ruhanika Dhawan and Aditi Bhatia. The story was initially based on Manju Kapur's 2011 novel ''Cust ...
'', '' Jodha Akbar'', '' Naagin'', '' Kumkum Bhagya'', '' Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki'', '' Kundali Bhagya'', '' Yeh Hai Chahatein'' and several others that were credited with starting a new wave on Indian television, leading to her being known as the "Czarina of television" and "the Queen of Indian Television". She ventured into
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
movie production in 2001, beginning with '' Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta'', starring
Sushmita Sen Sushmita Sen (; born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss Universe 1994, becoming the first Indian people, Indian woman to win the title. Sen has since predominantly worked in Hindi films, ...
and
Govinda Govinda (, ), also rendered Govind, Gobinda, and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu and his avatars, such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in the ''Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addressed to ...
. '' Kucch To Hai'' and '' Krishna Cottage'', based on supernatural themes, followed in 2003 and 2004. The 2005 '' Kyaa Kool Hai Hum'' featured her brother Tusshar Kapoor. She then went on to co-produce ''
Shootout at Lokhandwala ''Shootout at Lokhandwala'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Apoorva Lakhia and produced by Sanjay Gupta, and Ekta Kapoor. Based on the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, a real-life gun battle bet ...
'' with
Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at ...
. This was followed by '' Mission Istanbul'' and '' EMI – Liya Hai Toh Chukana Padhega'' in collaboration with
Sunil Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, and entrepreneur, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, with appearances in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Nicknamed as Anna, Shetty ha ...
. None of these films were commercial or critical successes. Between 2010 and 2014, she produced many unsuccessful films, including '' Love Sex aur Dhokha'', '' Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'', and '' Shor in the City''. In 2012, Ekta Kapoor started th
Institute of Creative Excellence
a media training school, through her production house, Balaji Telefilms. Kapoor has also launched a number of TV series online through her digital app ALTBalaji.


Beliefs and Naming Practices

During the early 2000s, Ekta Kapoor produced several Hindi television dramas, including ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'', which received high viewership. Around the same time, she produced a number of other series with titles beginning with the letter "K", such as ''Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii'' and ''Kasautii Zindagii Kay''. Kapoor has mentioned in interviews that this naming trend was influenced by her belief in astrology, particularly the significance of certain letters.Kapoor has also spoken about her spiritual beliefs, identifying as Hindu and describing herself as more spiritual than religious.


Filmography


Television

A selection of notable television works produced by Kapoor under the banner Balaji Telefilms is listed below. For a comprehensive list, see
Balaji Telefilms Balaji Telefilms is an Indian company that produces Indian soap operas in several Indian languages. Balaji Telefilms also owns Alt Balaji, the platform known for producing adult rated content. Balaji Telefilms also produces reality TV, comedy ...
. Note: television series in bold are the shows presently on air.


Films

The following is the list of motion pictures produced by Kapoor under her banner
Balaji Motion Pictures Balaji Motion Pictures is an Indian film production and distribution company, subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited, established by Shobha Kapoor and her daughter Ekta Kapoor. Located in Mumbai, it produces and distributes Hindi ...
.


Web series

The following is the list of web series created/developed/produced by Kapoor under her banner ALT Digital Media Entertainment for her
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
platform
ALT Balaji ALTT is an Indian subscription based video on demand platform which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. Launched on 16 April 2017, ALTBalaji is the group foray into the digital entertainment sphere to create original OTT cont ...
.


Accolades

Kapoor also works on script writing, creative conversion and concept building. Having been chosen as one of 50 of ‘Asia's Most Powerful Communicators’ by Asia Week magazine in 2001, she has helped launch the careers of many actors and actresses. She was chosen to lead the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) entertainment committee. The other awards she received are; The Society Achiever Award and The Best Entrepreneur of the Year 2001. Kapoor is regarded as one of the most powerful ladies in the television industry and is amongst the top 25 woman entrepreneurs of India. She was awarded
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
, the fourth highest civilian honour, in 2020 for her work in the field of arts. Kapoor has also received awards as the producer of
Balaji Telefilms Balaji Telefilms is an Indian company that produces Indian soap operas in several Indian languages. Balaji Telefilms also owns Alt Balaji, the platform known for producing adult rated content. Balaji Telefilms also produces reality TV, comedy ...
. These include the
Indian Television Academy Awards The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ITA Awards, is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television, films and web content. The Indian Television Academ ...
,
Indian Telly Awards The Indian Telly Awards is an annual award for excellence both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of Hindi-language television. Conceptualised and created by Anil Wanvari, the founder, CEO of media and services group, indiantelevision.com, they a ...
, Kalakar Awards,
Asian Television Awards The Asian Television Awards, founded in 1996, is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, it comprises 56 categories across news, documentaries and curre ...
, Apsara Awards, Zee Rishtay Awards, 3rd Boroplus Awards, New Talent Awards,
BIG Star Entertainment Awards The Big STAR Entertainment Awards was an annual award show presented by Reliance Broadcast Network Limited in association with STAR India to honour personalities from the field of entertainment across movies, music, television, sports, theatr ...
, 4th Boroplus Awards, GR8! Women Awards, Asia's Social Empowerment Awards, Lions Gold Awards, Stardust Awards, Screen Awards, Pune International Film Festival, Zee Gaurav Puraskar, National Media Network Film and TV Awards, the Global Indian Film and TV Honors, and ETC Bollywood Business Awards. The following is the recent list of awards received by Kapoor:


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Ekta 1975 births Living people Indian women television producers Indian television producers Mithibai College alumni Kasautii Zindagii Kay Indian women film producers Hindi film producers Indian Sindhi people Film producers from Mumbai Businesswomen from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian businesswomen 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts