Known as the Czarina of Indian television, Ekta Kapoor has rightfully changed the course of small screen viewership since 1994 with the establishment of her own production house Balaji Telefilms. From spicy saas-bahu dramas to grippy supernatural entertainers, Ekta has left no stone unturned to entertain all sections of the audience with binge-worthy shows. Having interned with ad and feature filmmaker Kailash Surendranath at the age of 15, the daughter of actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor set her vision right. Along with her, Ekta roped in a number of actors who did nothing but deliver stellar work with her and brought her ideas, visions, and fictional characters onscreen with ease.

Ekta has been known to introduce strong, fierce and powerful female protagonists onscreen, right from Tulsi, Parvati to Prerna, Kashish. But as the TV tycoon celebrates her 45^th birthday today, let’s take a look at her television shows’ leading men who were at par with their female counterparts, a platform where bahus, betis rule over the patriarchy setup. 

Be it Ronit Roy’s maturity or Rajeev Khandelwal's intensity, these men made us go bade acche lagte hai, rightfully. 

Ronit Roy

Hailed as Television’s Amitabh Bachchan, Ronit Roy delivered maximum hits with Ekta in his career spanning over two decades. Ronit’s association with Ekta started with the show Kammal in 2002 and then there was no looking back. From the popular character Mihir Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to Mr.Bajaj in Kasautii Zindagii Kay and to (just released) Rohit Mehra in the web series Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, Ronit’s and Ekta’s collaboration has proven to be successful every time. With different characters possessing an array of real-life traits, Ronit proved that he is indeed a force to reckon with.

Ram Kapoor

‘Bade Achhe Lagte Hain’ says the audience whenever Ram Kapoor reunites with Ekta. Be it the moody Ram Kapoor in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain or the ruthless Jai Walia in Kasamh Se, Ram’s characters were loved by one and all, thanks to Ekta’s perfect casting. The variety and quality of roles that Ekta and Ram bring together are rarely found on the small screen.

Rajeev Khandelwal

Nobody better than Rajeev Khandelwal could have done justice to Ekta’s chocolate-boy-scorned-lover Sujal Grewal in Kahiin To Hoga. Invariably, Ekta introduced the quintessential love story with an anti-hero Rajeev, a genre not explored much before in serials. The actor-producer teamed up for the web series Haq Se, which attained success from all corners. But not many know, Rajeev's first appearance was with Ekta's Tulsi aka Smriti Irani in Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat (2002), a supernatural anthology. 

Sushant Singh Rajput

Sushant Singh Rajput, before venturing into films, marked his acting debut with Ekta’s Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil in the second lead but it was Pavitra Rishta’s Manav that catapulted him to fame. The audience didn’t just like Sushant as an actor but drooled over his charming smile. Interestingly, Ekta, on Instagram recently shared a trivia that ZEE TV wasn’t keen on casting Sushant but she convinced them and voila! With SSR's stardom now in Bollywood, we definitely can't complain. 

Karan Patel

Starting his journey with Balaji Telefilms and Ekta, Karan Patel was first seen in the iconic show Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki (2000). Since then, there is no looking back for him. He is a prominent face in most of Ekta’s shows and delivered stellar performances in shows like Kasturi, Karam Apnaa Apnaa amongst several others. However, it was Yeh Hai Mohabbatein that changed the course for both Ekta and Karan. The show was commercially and critically successfully paving way for a progressive tale on a young father on television. Always thinking a step ahead, this is a partnership for keeps. 

Parth Samthaan

With boyish charm, Parth Samthaan easily slipped into the character of Anurag Basu in Kasautii Zindagii Kay reboot. (2018) Trusted by Ekta, Parth relived a role that was over a decade old and gave it a modern-day twist. Well, this was just the beginning of their association. Following the immense success of Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2, the actor-producer reunited for the web series Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain 2 and have collaborated for yet another digital show Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu.

Shabir Ahluwalia

Shabir Ahluwalia joined Balaji Telefilms and Ekta with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. A force to reckon with, the actor-producer teamed up for shows like Kahi To Milenge, Kahiin To Hoga, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat, Kkavyanjali and many more. However, in 2014, Ekta and Shabir stunned everyone with Kumkum Bhagya that went on to become one of the most-watched daily soaps of Balaji Telefilms. They collaborated for the web series Fixerr on ALT Balaji and ZEE5 too. With diverse shows and characters, Ekta and Shabir created magic on the screen. 

Hiten Tejwani

Hiten Tejwani is undoubtedly a prominent actor in Ekta’s journey over the years. He has been a part of most of her daily soaps including Kutumb, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi followed by Pavitra Rishta and the recent Daayan. Delivering stellar work together, Ekta showed the world what a fine talent Hiten is, who is also constantly seen in cameos in many of her shows to date.

Karanvir Bohra

Karanvir Bohra made an entry into Ekta’s Balaji family with brief roles in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kkusum. He later bagged a meaty character of the spoilt, evil brat, Prem Bajaj, in Kasautii Zindagii Kay. Karanvir catapulted to fame with the show and further collaborated with Ekta after a decade for Naagin 2 as Rocky, the antagonist. How to turn your villains into heroes, ask the magician and the muse. 

Rajat Tokas

Rajat Tokas and Ekta collaborated for supernatural and historical shows rather than saas-bahu dramas. Rajat became Ekta’s parallel lead in Tere Liye and went on to be her leading hero in her historical Mughal drama Jodha Akbar, which proved to be his most successful outing, commercially as well as critically. He yet again joined Ekta for her popular fantasy drama Naagin. He was also seen in her another history-based Chandra Nandini as the lead. Ekta definitely has carved a princely-warrior like aura on TV, which is unmatched. 

While these aren’t just the ones who have put forth Ekta’s vision onscreen but actors like Kiran Karmarkar, Karan Kundrra, Rithvik Dhanjani, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Arjun Bijlani, Vivian Dsena, Pearl V Puri, Jay Bhanushali, Vivek Dahiya, Harshad Chopra, Manav Gohil, Chetan Hansraj, Ssharad Malhotra and a whole lot who have played a prominent role in bringing to fore binge-worthy content in Ekta's brand of content.