MY TRYST WITH CONTENT

Just like my signature trait of capturing a reaction thrice for emphasis, the thumb rule of my career has been Entertainment, Entertainment, and Entertainment!

 My journey in the television industry started as a young girl who wanted to earn a little extra pocket-money. Much to my surprise, it panned out into a tryst with creating content that found its way into every household of India. In these 24 years, which have been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride, I have received every possible audience reaction there could have been. To be honest, that has further fuelled my passion for what I do.

 From being an 18-year-old novice who set out on a mission to alter the landscape of primetime television in India to now running the Balaji Telefilms Limited group (Balaji Telefilms, Balaji Motion Pictures & ALTBalaji) as Joint Managing Director, there’s a lot that has gone into building my trajectory as a producer. Having said that, there have been countless learning curves that have revolved around one key element, people – the ones that I work with (my peers) and the ones that I work for (my audience)!

 Throughout the ups and downs of being in the business, I’ve encountered several phases of introspection, which have helped me develop the qualities of instinct and intuition. My instinct to understand the pulse of my viewers and the intuition to predict an outcome, have not only helped me carve my niche in this industry, but also driven me to fearlessly take big risks that had the complete potential of backfiring. To give you context, at the turn of the millennium, I discovered what entertains the audience the most and started working towards exactly that. It was challenging because no competitor was doing what I was about to do – making women the cornerstone of a show.

 Today, while I am 24 years into the epicentre of India’s content journey, I realise there is an India, within which there is a very exposed audience and a not-very-exposed one. This realisation and my approach towards Indian viewers has come only from relentlessly running shows that give female characters a voice. With Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Kahiin Toh Hoga, Kaahin Kissii Roz, Kasamh Se, KKusum, amongst others, I made sure I was my biggest competition. I may not consume it all on a daily basis, but I respect the audience that does and challenge myself to deliver aspirational content at every step along the way. I took a stand to bring real household issues into the forefront – infidelity, oppression, domestic violence and more, and eventually went ahead to create a content empire that started foraying into the regional space with television serials in Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Bhojpuri and Punjabi.

 While television became my forte, I wanted to challenge myself further. So I ventured into the big screen with a genre that was very unlike my television serials. The ever-changing patterns of content consumption also motivated me to dabble into a space that catered to the youth who demands shows that resonate with them. I decided to face the competition head-on and created TV shows like Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani, Gumrah: End of Innocence and MTV Webbed. Speaking of change, it was time to embrace the digital market. I wanted to provide international standards and give the Indian audience a local flavour out of its traditional TV form. So I created a home-grown app, ALTBalaji that would compete with international giants like Netflix and Amazon. It has been both, humbling and gratifying to receive support of my audience every time I have chosen to step outside my comfort zone and give a new direction and medium to the content I create.

There is still a lot left to accomplish, in terms of experimenting with content and garnering a wider viewership. Speaking of which, I haven’t tapped into the comic book superhero space. Maybe with my little son Ravie and nephew entering my life, this idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched!