Birthday Special: Ekta Kapoor and her experiments with genres

Ekta Kapoor led to the massive boom of Indian television with the historic success of her lsquoSaasBahursquo dramas a genre that occupied a life of its own after she came into the picture Women refused to leave the screens and struck a chord with the central characters that they meticulously observed In 2001 Kapoor forayed into film production and has been doing after two decades tooThe filmmaker may have revolutionised Indian television with her soap dramas but didnrsquot limit her genre when it came to financing films From horror to comedy to drama she experimented with gusto How many do you rememberCOMEDYKyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta 2001It all began with a comedy directed by David Dhawan and starring Govinda lsquoLiar Liarrsquo inspired the plot of this courtroom farce The leading man of the yore was rollicking in a character that lies to climb up and is unashamed of his sycophantic nature The film may have been a far cry from what the filmmaker was usually associated for her fixation read fascination for K was intact in what remains a highly underrated comedyHORRORKrishna Cottage 2004Not too many couldrsquove pulled off a lsquoRaatrsquo or a lsquoBhootrsquo but this horror meets thriller was adequate to send a chill down your spine on many occasions The eerie atmosphere and pulsating background music were combined for a sincere attempt that sadly didnrsquot find too many takersDRAMAItrsquos this genre that Kapoor has nailed in the last many years in her career as a film producer There are three names that stand out and they remain three of our most formidable films in recent timesLove Sex Aur Dhokha 2010Dibakar Banerjee is a man with balls You truly need balls to be able to tell a story in the manner in which he did The entire film shot through web cameras security cameras set the mood for what will follow in the next two hours The title says it all through this inventive style of shooting and narrating we see three stories about the above three words For someone to back such a script one needs bigger balls Kapoor proved itShor In The City 2011Raj and DK are arguably one of the most exciting director duos in the country currently lsquoShor In The Cityrsquo is not much of a comedy like their lsquo99rsquo and lsquoGo Goa Gonersquo but it does connect with the miseries of their protagonists There are parallel stories against the backdrop of the Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai city And the filmmakers ensure these subplots do justify the title Therersquos indeed a lot of noise in the film both tangibly and metaphoricallyUdta Punjab 2016Standing tall is another cracker of a filmmaker called Abhishek Chaubey the man who sucks you in the heartland he presents in his brand of cinema Udta Punjab is the naked truth of shamelessness guilt redemption and destruction There are parallel stories here too ranging from farcical to frightening What connects them is the lucrative business of drugs What stands out is the unique name And it suits since filmmaking is all about flying highAlso Read Ekta KapoorDibakar Banerjee collaborate again for Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2