We made adult films for creative release, says Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor maintains that TV is her first love, but films are her latest love. She talks about her work 'addiction' and the censorship row We made adult films for creative release Television is diluted content, and that's why we needed a creative release and we made films. We made adult films. Shor In The City or The Dirty Picture or LSD were all adult films, made for creative release. How do you, as a creative person, constantly dilute your content? We used to do it for TV for 18 years, but at some point you feel that you want to tell a story just the way it is, without thinking that bachche dekhenge, mummy dekhengi, dadi dekhengi. So you do it in a movie and you say it openly that it's not for kids. I think we all are contradictions I've always made a very conscious effort to keep diluted mass entertainment for TV viewers. I am the only person in India who has been accused of being too regressive and too progressive at the same time. But when I do television, I do it with as much aplomb as I can because I am dealing with masses. I make my content diluted, I make it for family audiences. That's also a part of me. But then I also make adult films. I think there are contradictions in all of us. We go to the temple on certain days and go out and have a drink in the evening on other days. Why should any of us be slotted? There are various restrictions in our society Not all of us want to see typical slapstick comedy. We like adult humour, we like discussing humour in the way we would discuss it in our house and with our friends, that's why we made Kya Kool Hain Hum, and now Kya Supercool Hain Hum. But to understand the vibe of the film, it's important to see the 'A' promo, which I can't show on television. Today, if you make an 'A' film, even though we have the so-called non prime time slots in television where we can show these promos, we are restricted, because it's adult, but not that adult. So, there are various restrictions in our society, which we didn't have in 2005 when we came up with Kya Kool Hain Hum. Because my hands are tied, I've released a very, very sanitised version with Bol Bachchan and then released an 'A' version on the net. Our poor Censor is totally stuck The The Dirty Picture episode happened because of poor censoring, and I feel really bad for them. When they take a decision that is slightly drastic, of letting a film like The Dirty Picture release, some rival producer would put out some 200 PIL. In a country with more than 200 million people, what is 200 PIL? They are realising that with the media becoming so active and everyone finding a voice on social networking sites, there's not going to be freedom of speech, in fact, there will be curbing of freedom of speech. Nobody will take any firm step forward because of fear of criticism. The Censor needs to be empowered enough I think the Censor has to get a little stronger with their beliefs. They have to say, 'let people have their freedom of speech, but when your film is adult, it is going out to an adult audience'. After 11 pm, it is adult viewing on TV, so certain promos can run, but you can give one or two cuts. Otherwise we'll only be showing things on the net and diluting content on TV constantly. The government body that is deciding all this, will have to be empowered enough to say, 'we don't care what people say, this is what we believe in'. And once they do that, we'll also go with their beliefs. If they don't think something is right, we'll agree with them. 'K' was a brand statement, until everyone started doing it I know that a lot of people associate any serial that begins with K with me. Initially, it was a brand statement — K serials — and suddenly there were so many spin offs, so many K serials that nobody knew which ones were ours. I had to move away, and do some brand rebuilding. There was a bit of an astrological reason as well. But just astrologically, I would not change a title from 'K'. I have had seven series flopped with 'K' also. I analyse. I am more instinctive than analytical but at no point would I want to believe anything unless I have thought about it in detail. I think I am quite an intelligent person to not jump and say that 'K' suited me so everything's going to be 'K' from now on. There were so many other issues, so many other thought processes that made me stick with 'K' for such a long time. I am in favour of seasons In India we don't do seasons, but the day we do seasons, we won't have to do time leaps. I am in favour of seasons. I have been fighting for it with every channel, but there are many commercial issues. If the writers don't get the time to write, TRPs fall and you are constantly told to put drama in to get things back on track. You need to get freshness back into the show. If you get a six-month break in a season format, the viewer would also get a break. For instance, in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, how do I bring freshness back? I do this thing called time leap, so that I can start fresh. That way I don't have to take a story forward when I know it's ended. Kyunki... ran for eight years A show runs as long as the audience wants it. If the TRPs don't come, channels shut the show. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ran for eight years, then some issue came up, and take, it was off air one day. We are all aware that it's commerce, it's a business. If the show is running successfully, you can't say 'creatively I am not satisfied, can we just shut the show'? The channel will say we'll shut you out and we'll continue with the show. I can never take a break If I take a long break and don't make shows for a while, I'll be pulling my own hair off. Somebody told me, 'you need to get a life' and I told them, 'you don't know, this is my life'. It's an addiction. It's not that I am forced to work, it's the passion that drives me. I'm like Dr Christina Yang from the show Grey's Anatomy. I am like her. Now imagine giving her a personal life, she'll be so bored. She lacks social skills, she loves her job a lot and she's really happy at her work environment.