Instinct is Everything says Ekta Kapoor

What does it take to succeed in the creative economy? Intuitive knowledge of viewers� tastes and an ability to pick ideas that resonate, says Ekta Kapoor

By Subroto Bagchi

Published: Jul 19, 2010 06:39:08 AM IST

Updated: Oct 3, 2011 04:51:53 PM IST

Name: Ekta Kapoor
Profile: Joint managing director and creative mentor of Balaji Telefilms
She Says: You need to evolve and re-evolve to align yourself with changing tastes. Great content is all about great basic thoughts! Things you and I can see all around, but no one has been able to pick up and use as a concept.

A few years ago, I received an unusual invitation from the British Council and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, to speak to a group of young people undergoing a weeklong management programme to become entrepreneurs for a “creative economy”. Chosen on the basis of a national-level competition, they were to be taken to the UK with the idea that if they were to start their businesses, they should register their companies in the UK, or raise investment there.

That is when I started tracking the creative economy which is expected to remain recession-proof and low on carbon footprint. Think of it this way: What natural resources do you need to set up a girl-band? If four girls got together and cut an album, it could be a billion dollar industry before anyone knew it, and countries like the UK are seriously pushing such entrepreneurs. In India, it is time we looked at this new sector consisting of television and video programming, software games, arts and crafts. So here I am, with the mercurial, star-kid turned serious creative economy entrepreneur, Ekta Kapoor, to learn a thing or two.

Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Give me your sense of the creative economy.
Yes, I am an entrepreneur but not in the conventional sense. I have learnt business as time passed, but I do not have a B-school education.

Speaking of the creative economy, it is a completely new field. Films have been there for the last 100 years but television, media, content for mobiles have just made everything so much larger. We now suddenly realise that this is an environment-friendly industry which requires very little capital; though it requires absolute skills. And when the medium gets aligned to the content, it creates a whole new breed of professionals.

I think the time has come for media schools to be considered mainstream and present a choice of professions. We are going to have various niche channels and we are going to have regional movies coming up. Be it music, films or new media, there is going to be need for fresh content. In it, the creative and the business side will get enough prominence.

I think we are seeing the creative economy as just the tip of an iceberg. It is going to fully reveal itself after 10 years. The mediums are actually developing and evolving. Once 3G or 4G comes in, people will want instant gratification as far as entertainment goes. So, there will be professionals catering to that need.

What are the critical qualities one needs to succeed in the creative economy?
One is basic instinct! You have to know and smell your viewer. Whoever I am catering to — [even] the housewife sitting at home — I need to know her taste! So, instinct is probably the driving force that would stand out for any creative entrepreneur. The second and most important thing would be “evolving”. I have realised that the taste of the viewer can constantly change. So you need to sniff out the need for change. Constantly restructuring your own business to cater to changing taste is imperative. You can become successful by doing a certain kind of content [as per] your instinct. [But] you need to reach out to people constantly. The very next year you might have to re-evolve that same instinct to align yourself to the new state and probably pre-empt it.

People who listen to their instincts live by their own rules. The moment you want to professionalise, it calls for a certain amount of discipline. Now, how do you balance creativity with discipline?
I think there is a big misconception about creativity. It’s almost taken to be whimsical. If you are sitting for weeks and then get one little idea — it means you are a whimsical-creative person. I normally avoid that kind of creativity. I align myself with a number of different professionals — some do take weeks and months to think up an idea, but at the same time you have a number of passionate and young professionals who come up with a million ideas. They may not all be brilliant. Creativity means a bundle of a million things and instinct means — here’s a great thought and I need to nurture it. That instinct of picking up the right professional and picking up the right thought doesn’t have to be whimsical.

Is it possible to harvest creativity in a disciplined way?
Yes, if you are an entrepreneur. I always say, forget talent, give me passion. Talent can be built, but not passion. I saw Steve Jobs in an interview. He said, “Just do what you love”. I loved it.

Millions of times, I have had research coming to me saying, “You do this with your show, and it will work”. I say that it is not about what they [the audiences] want; it is about what they don’t know they want. That, you should know!

And for that, do you sometimes dumb-down content because you need to make sense to the masses?
You basically make it more entertaining, more colloquial, and more understandable because I believe TV is all about great basic thoughts! Things that you and I can see all around but no one has picked up!

A basic great thought is a thought that occurs everyday, but no one has been able to pick it up and use it as a concept for a whole show.

The thought behind Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was that every day, every generation passes on a legacy to their men; they give their businesses, their homes and everything else to their sons. But the women are expected to give their kitchen, their son and their power to the new woman who comes in. It is actually so much tougher for the Indian woman to give up something on which her whole life depends. The thought behind Kasauti Zindagi Ki was cursed love. Everyone in the world probably has had one love that did not materialise into a relationship. A thought like this is a basic great thought.

Subroto Bagchi is co-founder & gardener, MindTree and a best-selling author. His brief: Every fortnight, exchange tales of the road with successful entrepreneurs

(This story appears in the 30 July, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)