Controversies and rumors go hand in hand when it comes to Ekta’s Kahaani Humaarey Mahaabhaarat Ki!! The talk of the town of late was that Ekta’s epic has not gone well with the masses and will shut shop soon… There was also a buzz that her huge set at Filmcity was actually brought down…

However, Ekta Kapoor broke her silence finally and invited media to celebrate Janmashtami on the sets of Mahaabhaarat.. Looking very casual with the media, Ekta Kapoor addressed the rumors floating around and said, “Mahaabhaarat is the Number 1 show on 9X. The TRP of my show is 1.2 which is the same as other mythos”.

On the talk that the channel is investing nearly 1.2 crore per episode, Ekta says, “I really do not know from where this came from. If anyone is paying me this much, then I will surely shift my serial there. Frankly speaking, I am not even getting one fourth of what is mentioned. I would say that many of them are spending their valuable time talking about my show, but it is high time now that they realize that my show has become popular in spite of Zee and Star Plus having their #1 show at the same time slot. Above all, as far as my knowledge goes, I have heard there were two Mahaabhaarats to be made, but till now I have not heard of the other”.

Defending the pivotal character of Bhishma Pitamah played by Ronit Roy, Ekta added, “I know it is difficult for the audience to come out of the era of Mukesh Khanna">Mukesh Khanna and accept Ronit as Pitamah. Even Mukesh Khanna">Mukesh Khanna had done 3 movies before he took up this role. And the most interesting point is that the TRPs are always high when Ronit is shown; and this clearly states that we have won the battle”.

Ekta says that she readily accepted the challenge of launching her epic on a new channel like 9X and wanted to come out with flying colors. “I agree that the TRPs would have been bigger if I had launched the epic on Sony or Zee. But the fruits of success tastes better now as I have made it possible in a new channel like 9X”, she avers.

Having celebrated Janmashtami in style, she talks about the casting of Krishna. “The moment I saw Mrunal Jain in my office, I decided that he will be my Krishna. It was a decision that came from my heart; he went thro’ a look test and no audition was taken for this casting”, states Ekta.

Lastly, Ekta says that the abundant research that she had done for 4 months has paid off. “I will not stop doing mythos and my next epic is going to be on Lord Balaji”, she confirms.

Reporter and Author: Ranjini Nair