Balaji Telefilms, is known to bring in talents from all nooks and corners, and provide them a stage to show case their talents, and eventually provide them a special place in the hearts of the Indian audience. The loyalists of the Ekta family ultimately hit the pinnacle of success and get to be called ‘Ekta Kapoor’s Blue eyed favorites’.

But, a trend that has been seen in the past few years is that, the so-called ‘Blue-Eyed Greats’ have moved out of Ekta’s production house seeking something different. This was first noticed in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, when the then-chocolate hero, Amar Upadhyay walked out of the serial indicating that he was not interested in playing the role of Mihir after the leap. A point to be noted here, is that Amar was at the helm of popularity then, and was the first small screen actor to be brought back into the serial from the ‘dead’, courtesy a nation level uproar, wanting his comeback. One might be able to question the fact that even though Amar quit the show, couldn’t he join some other show of the same production as well? After being a top rated actor in Television, Amar quit the Telly industry to make a career in Bollywood, which right now has gone down the drain. Doesn’t that leave us wondering if that was truly the reason why Amar left the Balaji camp?

Next to follow was none other than another chocolate boy Rajeev Khandelwal, admired by the masses as Sujal of Kahin Toh Hoga. But again, Rajeev mysteriously walks out of the production house, leaving things sore between the two and till date, Rajeev and Ekta, cannot see eye to eye. Though Rajeev made his mark with other shows, Ekta suffered a loss with Sujal’s replacement. Rajeev claimed that he was being framed and stagnant with the story of Kahi Toh Hoga, while Ekta claims that Rajeev wanted full control of the show and played tantrums as well. Till date, except for the here-and-there comments coming from both, they have remained tight lipped about the whole issue. Now isn’t that strange?

The latest addition to the list is none other than Pulkit Samrat aka Lakshya of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Pulkit sued Ekta Kapoor for not being given remuneration for his work. Along with legal issues, Pulkit has a personal grudge that he was treated as an extra in the show, and has been framed for being unprofessional. On the other hand, the production house alleges that Pulkit had starry attitude and was getting a little too pricey for the camp. But now don’t most of the actors have an attitude? We don’t see them being chucked out, do we?

But the question that arises here is that is it a mere co-incidence that so many of Ekta’s protégés have walked out for the reasons stated, or is there something else behind the picture?

Author: Melanie, Hiral Anju Bhatt

Note: The views expressed are solely of the author. For any information, please contact the author.