It feels like a consolation when people lay emphasis on me being a woman and juxtapose it with my success,” says Ektaa Kapoor. The belief is reflected in the work culture of her production house, Balaji Telefilms. “It is by happenstance that we have more women in the workforce, but apart from working mothers, there is gender parity. There are no special concessions or privileges for one’s gender,” explains the ‘queen of Indian television’. Her razor-sharp business acumen is the catapulting force behind Balaji Telefilms’ phenomenal rise to a marquee banner, first with the ‘K’ television soaps and now with OTT app ALTBalaji, which boomed during the thick of the lockdown. “Television is a cash-rich business, but OTT is a value-creation business. Eventually, OTT platforms will replace TV,” says Kapoor. Reality show Lock Upp amassed over 500 million views on ALTBalaji and MX Player last year.
Balaji Telefilms raked in annual revenues of ₹337 crore in FY22, of which ALTBalaji contributed ₹102 crore. It added 3.88 million subscribers in the same period. Among the many things that went right in a topsy-turvy year was the structuring of the ESOP plan. “We have put forward this plan for a new set of employees, and that’s among our key achievements last year,” says Kapoor. Balaji Telefilms has seven movies slated for release in FY23. — Rishi Kant