There's no certain type of cinema, but there's a certain type of promise every film comes with. The agenda is to keep an eye on quality and live up to that promise.
— Ekta Kapoor
People have always wondered if I'm trying to push the envelope when it comes to my cinema - they keep questioning the visual graphics and the controversial content.
My holidays are generally impromptu, since a crazy work schedule is bound to eat into a long-planned trip.
For me, it's quite scary to go ahead to make my characters say things because, at times, you might actually be influencing a mind - and not one but many of thousands of minds.
I am a living contradiction.
Expect the unexpected from me!
We have to stop using words like 'that time of the month' or other such variations. Say it: I have my periods. There is nothing to be shy or embarrassed about.
I have no issue with the CBFC.
'Balika' is not my type of show, so I don't watch it.
I don't work that hard.
I am a terrible actor.
All my shows airing on different channels have been the top shows.
In films, I do programming I can never do in television. I have fun. Both mediums are content-led, but they are so diverse in their psychology that they cannot have a meeting point.
I never said anything bad about Smriti, nor did she speak against me.
If I don't like a person, I always speak out.
The beauty about history is that it's open to perception.
As a producer, I am dying to explore psychology and urban dilemmas - say, fatigue - in a marriage.
What I want to do with cinema is keep it as universal as possible.
Through these years, I have attempted to create magical moments between my characters because, be it television or films, life is about the moments we create while living through it.
I started working at a time when most of my friends were still figuring their lives out.
I really wish I were a superhero.
I could have never had any kind of creative freedom on TV, so then I did movies! Now, I am able to do all kinds of entertainment... and that, I feel, is the biggest blessing!
The people in Kolkata are very different. They don't wish to be super rich but give more importance to education than anything else. They are very innocent at heart, and one can sense a lot of purity in them.
If you talk to a woman, she will give you at least five incidents in a day, 5-10 in a month, where she had to work harder to prove herself because she is a 'woman,' maybe at a male-dominated work place or when she has to come across as a smarter woman if she is good-looking.
I believe in life after death.
Television is about identifying with the characters.
If you depict one home and the drama moving around one family, people love it because the characters become identifiable.
The reason for certain shows not doing well or as per expectations is that they were not aired on not so popular channels.
When you talk about a daily soap, it means one would be seen 28 days a month, which requires 30 days of shooting. So an actor being seen on a show airing four days a week and being telecast thrice a day comes along with a baggage of the character.
My creative team filters the scripts before they reach me and a few others. We evaluate them, ponder over the budget, and think of various possibilities to get the viewer excited.
It is very difficult for an actor to replace another actor who has already created an image.
I really find Jodha-Akbar a fine example of a couple, true or not, that people need to see today.
I am very reactive and malleable. I have to figure out when to be hands on and hands off. If I am hands on all the time, I can't do too much. But my attitude works in a certain way. So the idea is to spread your personality, your attitude.
TV is very mass, especially now that boxes are shifting to small towns.
When I made TV shows, people called them regressive. Clearly, everyone wants to generalize everything, but I like to choose a middle path.
I knew I wanted to make good television, create content that's massy, and provide programming that would invite families to come together and witness these 'reel' lives.
I do think responsibility does come with a lot of power, and more than that, it comes with the fact that you can actually change the thinking of those not only in your country but in the countries where your films are watched.
I'm just a simple television and film producer who started off from her garage and whose only idea was to tell a story.
I honestly believe that if you're not growing, then you are taking the space that somebody else would get if you moved forward.
I love the streets of Kolkata, and I admire the old architectural buildings.
The CBFC is only mirroring society.
I love 'Koi Aane Ko Hai.' It is my favourite show because I believe in this genre.
Most of my work is in my mind.
My work begins at around 3 P.M. I wake up at around 2 P.M., watch my serial cassettes, jog for 30 minutes, get my make-up done, and plunge into meetings lined up with my directors. By evening, I finish all meetings and go to my office, where I handle any problems that may have arisen there.
I can't create magic, where all my serials will have the highest ratings.
I don't think 'Jurassic Park' could have been so much fun had Spielberg not made a 'Schindler's List.'
You cannot predict how well a film will do.
I am not a person who will mince words.
I'm told Jodha was someone whose eyes conveyed humility, simplicity, courage, and conviction. Paridhi embodies everything I had in mind for Jodha.
Creative instinct is personal.
