Women and Entrepreneurship

Ekta Kapoor Contd...

She was not successful in finding buyers for the first pilots, but her father came to her rescue and gave her more money to make more pilots. BTL was set up in 1994 by her father. Mano Ya Na Mano, (Believe It or Not) BTL's first serial was telecast in 1995. This was followed by Dhun Dhamaka (Musical Explosion), a music based show aired on Doordarshan,³ which was moderately successful. The first major success came with Hum Paanch (We Five), a comic sitcom about 5 girls and their harassed parents, which ran for 5 years on Zee TV. BTL came out with an initial public offer (IPO) in October 2000 to set up an integrated studio in Mumbai and to buy advanced equipment. A day prior to its listing on BSE, BTL entered into negotiations with Nine Network Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nine Broadcasting India Pvt. Ltd.) for a merger in the ratio of 65:200 through an all-share deal.

The merger was later called off. In its first year as a public company, Balaji showed a net profit of Rs 646 million on net sales of Rs.3.45 billion for the nine month period ending in December 2000. The initial years in the business were not very easy for Ekta Kapoor. There were times when she used to have 5 or 6 pilots ready but none of them would get approval from the channels. People did not take her seriously. Experienced writers would try to force her to accept sub-standard scripts as they thought she was the "brainless daughter of a moneyed father."⁴ She was able to overcome these barriers through sheer grit and determination. She worked relentlessly, even foregoing holidays, to make a mark for herself. Her time was completely occupied with thinking out stories, finalizing scripts, deciding on sets, costumes, casting, etc.

Her hard work and commitment eventually paid off, and by the early 2000s she had two highly successful serials, Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (KSBKBT, Because the Mother-in-law was also a Daughter-in-Law) and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki (KGGK, The Story of Every Home) to her credit. She was called the lady with the Midas touch as she hit gold with almost all her projects. By the end of 2002, she had about 35 programming hours per week on television - no mean task for a person in her late 20s.

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3] Doordarshan is India's national television network.

4] The Financial Express June 18,2001

Case Details

Case Code : LDEN013
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility, Woman Entrepreneurs
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : -
Organization : Mahila Griha Udyog, Balaji Telefilms Limited, Biocon
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Varied

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