Ekta's 'Khwahish' is first Indian soap on Pakistan TV

She has produced one of the most successful films of the year, but Ekta Kapoor is more excited about her TV series "Khwahish", the first Indian serial that is being legally shown in Pakistan.

"To me the big Sony event at the moment is 'Khwahish', a soap that we produced in Dubai for the Middle Eastern market. We shot it on neutral land since we didn't want any legal or political repercussions. It's already been aired in Pakistan," Ekta told IANS.

"So far our shows were being shown illegally in Pakistan. Our 'Kasautii Zindagii Kay' is huge in Pakistan. Now we've given them the first official Balaji soap and they love it," she added.

The Pakistanis are really keen to meet Ekta and she's planning a trip to Karachi and Lahore very soon.

"My creative director Nivedita Basu had gone to Pakistan. And she got a very warm welcome. We held a talent hunt for 'Khwahish' there. The principal male lead is from Pakistan. And now 'Khwahish' will start to air on Sony in a fortnight."

She is also going to produce a reality show for Sony Entertainment. For that she teams up with Sanjay Gupta with whom Ekta produced the successful thriller "Shootout At Lokhandwala".

"We've just got a confirmation letter. It's going to be the biggest reality show ever in the country. I can't give out more details right now," said Ekta.

"But it's like nothing that has been done so far. I've waited so long to do a reality show. Sanjay and I wanted to get it right before getting it on the road," she added.

The Ekta-Gupta reality show starts in January 2008. One of Ekta's old serials "Kya Haadsa Kya Haqueeqat" is also resuming on Sony.

Ekta's latest alliance with STAR for the daily soap "Kasturi" is a big success.

"It's mom's favourite and therefore my favourite," said Ekta. "We've made sure it's got some worthwhile talent. We got the Punjabi stage and film actress Sheeba Chadha to play one of the leads. She didn't want to do television. But we made it worth her while. See how classy she is!

"My 'Kasturi' hero and heroine played supporting roles in other Balaji roles. I was discouraged from taking them on. But I'm willing to take on new talent even if I see potential in a peon at Balaji... In that sense I'm very much like Ram Gopal Varma."

Ekta rubbishes all rumours that her large-screen gangster satire "C Company" is a take-off on Varma.

"The film has nothing to do with Ramu. I love his cinema. 'C Company' has no spoof on Ramu's cinema. In fact, it will do a take-off on our company Balaji Telefilms."

Indo-Asian News Service