MUMBAI: Tuesday 30 April 2013 8 am. Just another day at the Balaji Telefilms head office opposite Fun Cinemas in the Andheri West suburb of Mumbai. Normally, scores of aspirants from all over India come to its gates everyday and leave their photographs, their concepts, in the hope that the Queen of Indian television - slowly becoming the queen of Indian cinema as well - will give them that elusive break.

Which she has done over the past decade and build many an acting aspirant?s, writer?s and director?s career. At least 200 young TV professionals buzzing with ideas go up the six story building, park themselves in their respective desks and plan the next big spike for the television shows Balaji delivers to TV channels every day.

But this morning was a little different. Posses of income tax officials - from the search and seizure department - reportedly stormed the Balaji head office, Krishna Bungalow in Juhu (where Ekta, Jetendra Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor reside) and brother Tusshar?s home, apart from four other locations. Along with the Kapoors? residences and the Balaji offices residences of other board of directors were searched.

A press briefing expected from the production house during the day, but no official word or address to the press was made. All the locations in which searches were in progress were like fortresses with no one being allowed entry. And those who did get access had to hand over their phones.

Ekta Kapoor and Balaji Telefilms have come even more into the limelight after she successfully launched her film banner Alt Entertainment and Balaji Films. With her slew of successful movies in her pocket (The Dirty Picture, Ek Thi Dayaan, Love Sex Aur Dokha, Ragini MMS), she was readying to release Shootout at Wadala on 3 May which is expected to do well at the box office.

Reports are that the IT department believes it should have been paid more money as tax by Balaji than it did. Details were not available at the time of writing.

"This could well be a case of the well-entrenched players in the Hindi film industry seeing Balaji Telefilms as a competitor who could threaten their fiefdom," says a veteran film industry critic. "It?s like this: every time someone makes a dent in the entertainment industry either rivals or the government intervene to make life difficult for him or her. The current IT search may well be in that space. Only time will tell us what it was all about."

The shares opened at Rs 46.30 and the closing price was Rs 45.85.

Trading volume was 181,714 at the time of closing.

MUMBAI: After getting to be a master at producing television shows and films, Ekta Kapoor is going back to studying. She has enrolled for a business development course at the Harvard University.

On 3 May next year, the head honcho of Balaji Telefilms will fly to the US to kick-start the course. It is said that the idea originated in her mind sometime ago that has finally taken shape now.

Talking about her study programme, Kapoor said that it?s a three-year degree course where she will have to be at the University for one month every year for three years. She has also wished that her company attains the best possible growth and for that, she wants to take her knowledge to the next level by going to Harvard, one of the finest institutions in the world.

Sources reveal that the course will require Kapoor to devote at least nine to ten hours every day during her stay at the university. When asked about who will look after her company during her absence, she referred to her parents.