Interview: Ekta Kapoor

By: Contributing Writer WP

March 20, 2010

By: Anjelika Dandekhar

Someone had to fund one of Bollywood’s most risqué films to ever be released, and that someone was producer Ekta Kapoor. In teaming with director Dibaker Banerjee in Love Sex aur Dhokha, Kapoor spared no one in delivering a voyeuristic adventure she personally labeled “shocking and unsettling.”

“The look and the feel of LSD is unlike any other Indian film,” the 34-year-old television producer who has a knack for finding twisted yet honest plots candidly told the press. “It is so unsettling that you are constantly getting shocked while watching the movie. It is not the sexual content or any kind of story twist that shocks you, but the basic realism.”

It is a realism told through the eyes of voyeurs exploring the most intimate of human desires and sexual fantasies, and their respective consequences. Since human thoughts on the subject are varied, Kapoor thought it was essential to tell the fantastically real tale of lust and life in the most non-linear way possible, which included straying from the “formula” while also being the first Bollywood film released in a digital format.

“It is a film we truly believed in. It was not a formula film. It has been shot with a handy-cam, but it has honesty in its script,” the producer told Press Trust of India. “I will never make a digital film and then beautify it to look like 35mm. It is about the cameras watching us in our everyday lives. The film required a different grammar.”

Helping Kapoor’s cause and vision was the film’s director, who went out on a limb to make the producer’s mental thoughts a visual success on the silver screen. With Banerjee directing “safer” films in Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Kapoor was appreciative of the risky jump her director made in just his third venture.

“After giving two hits, Dibakar could have easily made a film with big stars, but he did not,” Kapoor humbly told the press. “It is a big risk and speaks highly of his integrity as a filmmaker. I think he will only gain from this movie because he has shot it with utmost honesty.”

There is that “honesty” word again, yet Kapoor applied that noun in another context – film criticism and box office reception. Considering the bold nature of Love Sex aur Dhokha, neigh a film existed in Bollywood with “sex” in its title. The acclaimed producer who made a name for herself in television serials and soap operas expects and broad range of reactions to the film. Still, she does not think anyone should view the film in a negative light. Instead, she hopes the film will act as an eye-opener and inspire audiences to be more open-minded about issues once considered absolutely taboo.

“Any film should not be reacted on negatively because it has word ‘sex’ in it. We can be as prudish as we like, but we can’t live in denial,” Kapoor emphatically told the press. “LSD is not about sex, but it is about the way we use it to gain power, take revenge or exploit others.”

In the face of such words, Kapoor admitted she ultimately does not have an agenda other than to produce films that are as entertaining as they are profitable. Looking beyond Love Sex aur Dhokha, the producer said she is looking forward to completing several small-budget productions through her just-launched Alt Entertainment.

“We are not keeping any agenda, but we will be making films for the young crowd. They want to watch films which are entertaining,” she stated. “I am making a film with my brother Tushar. It is a fun slice-of-life film but realistically shot. My second film is with Deeraj Pandey, which is a complete art film.”

If Love Sex aur Dhokha is any indication, Kapoor is probably having more fun than she could have anticipated in entertaining young audiences and providing them with a “slice of life.”