She is the one behind soaps like Dulhann and the latest TRP scorcher, Naa Aana Iss Des Laado. She is Neelima Bajpai who some hail as the “next Ekta Kapoor”. With her pulse on the viewers, Bajpai of Shankutalam telefilms shares with TellyChakkar her life story and the dynamic world of television. Excerpts from an interview: Some people in the industry call you the next Ekta Kapoor… I don’t want anyone to compare me with anyone. Ekta has proved herself; she is rediscovering, reinventing herself. We are different people with different sensibilities. We make different kind of shows and my body of work is nothing compared to hers. Hers is a big production house, so where is the comparison? How different are you then from Ekta? I am like any other creative producer who makes shows we want to watch and are close to our hearts. I don’t think I will make a show which talks about business empires worth 1000 crores! And that’s because I have not seen that kind of life so my shows are usually based on what I have seen or read; real stories interest me. I don’t want to move away from reality unless it’s a mythological or historical. But it’s still a challenge to explore the world you don’t know. Go on… My first show Reth was very progressive. It was on Zee six years back and about a girl who actually goes with the goons to save her sister-in-law. She is raped and her sacrifice becomes the biggest hurdle for her family and in- laws. She was a strong girl. Then we did Dulhann which was a phenomenal success. It was about an orphan, Vidya who was illiterate girl, who didn’t have a voice and slowly you started giving it to her. The excitement is making such characters, making them relatable, and human-like. During the course of making Dulhann I realised women in cities are still better off than their rural counter parts. The girls there live under a lot of pressure and restrictions. They lead a suffocated life. And so we are catering to that kind of viewers with Devi or Laado apart from creating a social awareness. You create a character like Ammaji who is strong and who believes in killing the female child…the women in the house will start protesting against her but it will take some time. Talking of characters some of the characters in your shows like Sindoora or Ammaji have been very popular… When we created the character of Sindoora we didn’t want her to be negative because at that time vamps were very animated with loud make- up and it was a big challenge for us to break that stereotype. Sindoora was a very powerful woman; and when you are powerful you are very confident. We wanted to play her subtle and Kamya (Punjabi) did a great job. With the heroines you can’t do much because the protagonist generally has to look in a certain way. So it’s the vamp who you can experiment with. With Ammaji, we kept two things in mind. She couldn’t have been another Dadisa of Balika Vadhu; also we had to look beyond Sindoora. So Ammaji was like a man, in terms of her body language and the way she rules the village; she is a smart brain but we had to make her a little louder than Dadisa so that she stands out. Meghna (Malik) is a fantastic performer; she brought in a lot to the table. What’s your background? I am from Delhi. I was a writer-director, working with TV18. I was always inclined towards reading and writing. TV18 also encouraged new talent and so I got a chance to direct Bhanwar. I came to Mumbai as a director but to get a job here was very difficult. I also did a show on SAB TV called Haadsa so they called me when they were doing a show on Kiran Bedi’s book and said they wanted someone to not only write and direct but also produce it. I had no production background but I took a chance. It was a very small budget show which SAB TV was making for DD; it was successful and well made. With that came a bit of confidence to make my own show and Reth happened on Zee. The concept was mine. I was told to make a pilot episode. At that time I was directing Kagaar so I shot a pilot with my partner Shyam who was a cameraman. He would shoot and I would write and direct. Luckily after a few hiccups Reth was approved. It was a moderately successful show. But Zee liked our work and gave us Dulhann. Reth was more ‘intelligent’ but educated people do not really watch TV so with Dulhann I went completely opposite. We wanted it to be more mass oriented. Our concept was of an uneducated girl marrying a mentally challenged man. We also did Santaan with Star Plus, more of an experimental show. It was more real compared to the dramatic Dulhann. No one really knew about Meghna till Laado happened… I have worked with her so I knew her capability but I thought she was too young for Ammaji. But we were running out of time and that’s when Shyam suggested her name and we thought of doing a look test. I knew she would perform but was not confident about her look. She was not my first choice; Ketkie Dave was. She had given a look test for it but her dates were clashing. Then I saw Meghna and the hunger and fire in her. I knew it was a big role and that she will give whatever it takes. She has been phenomenal. In terms of viewership Laado has sort of broken the rule that television is all about women viewers as it is being watched by men too... It’s the power of Ammaji. The channel did research and found that men are more drawn to the power of Ammaji. In fact they find her sexy. Her charisma seems to be working. Now that Raghav is back with Sia do we see the women in the household going against Ammaji? A bit of revolt will happen. Sia will do it in her own way and eventually when the show will come to an end she will make Ammaji realise that whatever she did was wrong. The show began with the focus on female infanticide but now that has been completely sidelined? The show was initially titled Adhikar. But later it came to be called as Na Aana Iss Des Laado because we were talking of female foeticide and every girl’s right to be born, educated etc. So it was to set the tone of the show and at the end of the day Laado is more about the pride of women and their individual battles to fight for equal rights. Is it not a saas-bahu show but in a different avatar? It is because you are catering to the women in a family; though it’s not talking to very enlightened women. So you have to give them the message in their language. The saas does not want a girl child but the bahu wants, so it’s a saas-bahu issue. But a girl will eventually be born in Ammaji’s family and the rest of the women will protect her from Ammaji. Ammaji will be defeated in the end. It’s all about catering to the women who belong to the larger mass and speaking to them in their language. Coming back to you what has been the turning point in your life? I had never thought I would get into production. So in a way that was the turning point for me. I always wanted to make my own show. My brother-in-law helped me a lot with the initial investments. We got in touch with financers who troubled us and took us to court. It was during the making of Reth that this happened. I told Zee I wanted to stop the show; my Rs 20 lakhs had gone down the drain but Zee asked me to go ahead with the show. My brother-in-law pitched in. Zee too supported us so I owe it to them. Actually it’s more difficult to start a new show now; it was easier then. What are your future plans? I have never planned my life but we (husband Shyamasis Bhattacharya and herself) want to be known as the makers of good shows. We enjoy a lot of good will in the industry as well as among the viewers. As producers we play fair. Whether it is a spot boy or an actor or any one, we have treated everyone equally. We are blessed with a great team which ensures smooth functioning. So our strength is we understand and value people, those who work with us and our viewers. We are also trying to explore a completely non-dramatic show, with no hidden agendas or drama elements though it’s early days to talk about it. Do you watch TV? I don’t watch TV at all. If a show is doing well then I try and catch an episode and if it’s not, even my shows, I watch to see what went wrong. I often flip through shows and even half an episode is enough for me to know what is happening.