/> The TV tycoon is on a new high. Her foray into non-fiction programming has paid 'bitch' dividends.

"Kandy Floss is catty, but not bitchy. But the response has been way beyond what we expected. Now I'm charged about Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka which starts this week. Pataa nahin kya hoga Ekta ka," she jokes.

Ekta Kapoor's first soap on Star One is a new experience for her on many levels. "It's my first soap on the new channel on Star , therefore it has to work not just for Balajee but for the new channel. It's the funniest show on earth. Yet it isn't a comedy.

It's got drama but no melodrama. I promise my audience no one's going to die and come back," Ekta chuckles, drawing attention to the melodramatic mode that her serials generally adopt.

It's Saturday evening, and Ekta is on the sets of her new source of excitement. "You know Nimmo is in many ways like me. Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka is my version of the Cinderella fairy tale. Like me she has simple dreams. Like me she waits for the pumpkin to turn into a stage coach. And yet Nimmo is very much rooted to the middle-class.

Those who've accused me of making one kind of soaps will see that I've changed to another format. I've deviated without getting into reality tv or any of the non-fiction programming formats. Nimmo sticks to my style and yet goes into a new territory.

I'd say it's my tribute to the working-class comedies by Basu Chatterjee and Sai Paranjpye. It's like Basu Chatterjee's Parsi Khatta Meetha shifted to a Gujarati milieu. But please, Nimmo's family is nothing like the Viranis in Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. There're Gujjus , and Gujjus."

Ekta exults about her latest offering. "Nimmo is your regular middleclass dreamer with normal dreams with two sisters who are considered far more capable and happening than Nimmo. The mom isn't a shrew like Cinderella's stepmom. But she genuinely believes Nimmo to be a loser. But boy, does she have surprises in store!"

The tycoon producer is thrilled with her lead. "To play Nimmo we got a new girl Sanjita. She has done a couple of South films. But she's completely new to Mumbai. As for Ejiaz Khan he plays our Prince Charming very charmingly. Navjot Singh Sidhu is cast like a sutradhar who may or may not be God. Who knows! He keeps popping up at unexpected times to advise Nimmo. He's like the fairy godmother in Cinderella."

Ekta doesn't see herself as responsible for giving the fledgling Star One channel a twist in the TRPs . "Why only Nimmo? There're several other new soaps coming on Star One. So far the channel hasn't really focused on fiction. Let's see how far Nimmo helps."

Talk veers to Ekta's other new experiment with tooth and nail. "In just a week Kandy Floss has ruffled quite a few feathers. And it going to get more and more irreverent. The interview with Sandhya Mridul and Rakhi Sawant was a rocker. Kandy Floss isn't for the weak at heart. I guess Balajee is finally growing bold."