ASSIGNMENT ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR (EKTA KAPOOR)

Submitted To Mrs. Jaspreet Kaur

Submitted By Amandeep Kaur BBA 3rd year 2929

EKTA KAPOOR

Ekta Kapoor has long held the title of the Queen of the Indian Television Industry. While her soaps have been known to be over-the-top and indigestible at many points over the past two decades, few can challenge the truth in her title, with over 15,000 hours of television content on the airwaves since the inception of Balaji Telefilms. Over 80 distinct television programmes have been churned out of her production house across six different languages; she also has 11 films under her belt as of 2011, with three more scheduled for release in the

same year. How did she so successful as a woman entrepreneur and reach where she is today? Read on to find out. A Modest Start For A Superstars Daughter: Born in 1975 to Bollywood superstar, Jeetendra, and his wife Shobha, Ekta Kapoor started off in the industry early. At the age of 17, she tried to enter the ranks of Kailash Surendranath, the ad/feature-filmmaker, but was reportedly unsuccessful. Following her bachelors degree in Commerce, and under the advice and financial backing of her father, Ekta started up her production house, Balaji Telefilms, in 1994. Her first six pilots and three filmed ventures were sadly failures, but in 1995, Hum Paanch, a comedy about five sisters, a vaguely nagging mother, and their hapless father, was a relative success. The company plodded along through the 90s with such moderately wellfaring television shows as Mano Ya Na Mano (1995), Dhun Dhamaka (1996), Captain House (1998), Padosan (1998), and Itihaas (1997-99), but none that left a major impact. Kanyadaan (1999) was moderately popular. It was only around the year 2000, that Ekta managed to catch and ride the wave of satellite television revolution in India, to astounding results.

The K-phase: The early noughties of the new century saw the rise of shows that have left deep and lasting impacts on the Indian psyche. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, both launched in 2000, have arguably been the most popular. Viewers were introduced to the soap opera in its most dramatic, intense form, with picture quality previously unknown in the grainy realm of Doordarshan and other networks of the 90s. Balaji Telefilms success skyrocketed within just months, it seemed with other K-serials: Kalash (2001), Kaahin Kissii Roz (2001), Kkusum (2001), Kabhii Sautan Kabhii Sahelii (2002), and a host of others. By 2005, Balaji Telefilms had something of a monopoly over Indian televisions with shows across all major networks and channels and had diversified to the Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu sectors as well. She had become, by this time, Joint Managing Director, Director and Member of the Shareholders Committee of Balaji Telefilms as well. All was not well though: the monopoly led to viewers at large being oversaturated, in a sense. By 2008, the popularity of a number of her soaps began to decline. TRPs decreased to a massive extent for her landmark show, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which by this time was felt by the public at large

overstretched and hard to digest, with such plot devices as multiple deaths, kidnappings, and even reincarnations. While the lead character had, by the time, been played by a different actress than the one the show began with, the lights were dimmed; the show was taken off the air. A slew of cancellations followed that year: Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, her other pet project; and Kasautii Zindagii Kay, another popular show,

which began in 2001. Things had begun to seem grim well before 2008 though, but ever the entrepreneur, Ekta

started to branch out Balaji Telefilms influence in other spheres. Ektas Big Screen Releases: Although Ekta and Balaji

Telefilms had already produced four films from 2001 to 2004, they were largely box office (and critical) bombs. Around Ektas shaky 2005 period in television came the surprise box office hit she produced, Kya Kool Hai Hum, which starred her brother, Tusshar Kapoor.

The film, a comedy, was among the highest-grossing films of the year. 2007 saw another popular and highly-grossing film, Shootout at Lokhandwala, inspired by Martin Scorseses Goodfellas, with Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt in lead roles. While 2008 brought another box office bomb in EMI, Ekta took a bold chance two years later in 2010, to produce Dibakar Banerjees highlyacclaimed Love Sex aur Dhoka. The film grossed about 7 crore and garnered a lot of critical praise. 2010 also saw her other production, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, grossing over 58 crore (albeit with mixed critical reception). Newer productions included Ragini MMS, a horror/romance film slotted for 2011.

Ekta Kapoor, The Woman: Ekta is estimated to have a net worth of about 1.32 crore rupees, with an annual salary of Rs. 66,30,000. She has numerous awards under her belt from the television and film industry, along with being named one of Asias Most Powerful Communicators by Asiaweek magazine. Notorious for her silence about her personal life, we see only the professional, business side of heran impressive, inspirational figure with just the amount of flexibility required to adapt to the changing needs of her audience of nearly 20 years.
Currently she is the Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms, which is the largest television production house in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Under the Balaji Films Balaji Motion Pictures

banner, she has also produced Bollywood movies including Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, Mission Istanbul, Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum, The Dirty Picture, Love Sex aur Dhokha, Love Sex Aur Dhokha and more. She has also co-produced Shootout at Lokhandwala with White Feather Films.

Apart from being the most successful producers, she is probably the most superstitious one as well. All her productions start with the letter K as she believes that the letter is lucky for her. Whether it`s the letter, soap opera boom in the country or her capabilities, she has won many honors and accolades for her work. This list is quite long but several need to be mentioned:

Ernst Young (EY) Startup Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2001

3rd Boroplus Gold Awards Hall of Fame for her show in 2010

GR8!

Women

Awards

Most Successful Woman in 2012 Asia`s Social Empowerment Award Freedom Through Education in 2012

Profile
Published by

of

Vandana
Current on

Luthra
2009-03-18

Not too many entrepreneurs can be said to be embodiments of their enterprise. But Vandana Luthra of New Delhi is certainly one.

She is slim and svelte. She is, of course, beautiful in the classical Indian mold, and she carries herself with the grace that only comes with enormous self confidence.

Its the sort of self confidence that is engendered, quite possibly, from the knowledge that one is entirely self made. And that Ms. Luthra certainly is. Shes founder and mentor of VLCC, Indias leading slimming, beauty and fitness brand, and one with seven outlets in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and an eighth center scheduled to open in Al Ain in May. There are VLCC slimming, beauty and fitness centers in Muscat and Bahrain, and by next year there will be a total of some 28 across the Middle East.

The largest number of VLCC centers, of course, is in Ms. Luthras native India 150 of them in 75 cities. She facilitates professional development through her vocational training school, the VLCC Institute of Beauty, Health & Management, which currently has 43 campuses in 35 cities.

The entrepreneur as an educator that would be a fair way to characterize me, Ms. Luthra said. Fitness and wellbeing are a matter of education, and for that you need skilled trainers.

Her own training after graduating from Delhi University was in nutrition and cosmetology in Germany. Then Ms. Luthra took a series of specialized courses and modules in beauty care, fitness, food and nutrition and skin care in London, Munich and Paris.

And then she returned to her middle-class home in New Delhi, Indias capital, and started a neighborhood beauty parlor. It was an instant success, and it emboldened her with the canny assistance of her swarthy but handsome husband Mukesh to start VLCC.

I like to think that I seamlessly married scientific slimming programs with cutting edge skin and hair treatments, Ms. Luthra said. This was at a time when the Indian market was still nascent and the concept of combining fitness and beauty, as an approach to holistic wellness, was a completely new paradigm.

What was it about that paradigm that made her want to bring it to the United Arab Emirates?

It made eminent sense to look at the Middle East market as our first overseas foray, given that obesity in this region is rated as being amongst the highest in the world. In the UAE specifically, more than 60 percent of the population is either overweight or obese, Ms. Luthra said. Secondly, after a detailed study of several countries in the region, we decided to make the UAE as the base for our expansion in the Middle East on account of its highly investor friendly environment and its ideal location as an entrept for the region.

Ms. Luthra makes another point about health and fitness that wouldnt be ordinarily associated with a purveyor of slimming centers the link between personal health and personal finance.

To my mind, there is indeed a direct link between personal health and personal finance or rather personal health and the ability to manage personal finance, she said. A healthy population is an active population that contributes directly to the long-term economic prosperity of a nation. And, completing the cycle, a prosperous nation contributes directly to the prosperity of its populace. Ergo, if personal health is good, personal finances too will be great!

On the flip side is the fact that individual prosperity, without a healthy and disciplined lifestyle, very often leads to deterioration of personal health -- most often linked to gaining of weight if not outright obesity -- and that is the danger individuals and nations as a whole must always be conscious of, Ms. Luthra continued. Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for serious diet-related chronic diseases, including adult-onset Type Two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer. The health consequences range from increased risk of premature death, to serious chronic conditions that reduce the overall quality of life. The collective impact has massive public health consequences, as is being currently experienced in the United States and Britain.

Vandana has worked painstakingly to help the slimming, beauty and wellness industry be recognized as an organized sector industry; setting quality standards, benchmarking services and customer satisfaction while employing top-of-the-line technology and applications. Her endeavors have been towards placing the Indian fitness and beauty industry at par with those of the most advanced countries internationally. In recognition, the Government of India has appointed her as a member on the Special Task Force for Empowerment of Women. Most recently, she has has been listed as one of the 100 most powerful Indians in 2009 by Indian Express.

The ethic of sharing and teamwork is intrinsic to Vandanas philosophy of life, whether it is with members of her own profession or with society at large. Hence, she is very active in partnering with the medical profession in the drive against health problems caused by obesity. To this end, she has set up the Anti-Obesity Foundation to encourage scientific research on obesity. The Foundation also raises awareness about the fact that obesity is a medical problem and is fast becoming a public health hazard in India.

She is also a keen educationist and a social worker. She spends a lot of time with young enthusiasts who wish to make their careers in the ever-expanding Health, Fitness and Beauty industry. As part of her philanthropic efforts, she actively helps the underprivileged and the physically challenged by providing them scholarships for free education. She was also recently appointed as a trustee of the National Childrens Fund, constituted by the Government of India under the aegis of the Ministry for Women & Child Development.

Vandana Luthra represents a movement for a healthy lifestyle, which is gaining momentum the world over at a very rapid pace.