Smriti Irani on why she's making a comeback, having proved her miscarriage, & 3 other revelations on Raj Shamani podcast

Time of India

3 days ago

In a heartfelt chat on Raj Shamani's podcast, Smriti Irani reflected on the personal and professional hardships she faced during her television career. She spoke about experiencing a painful miscarriage while filming Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and how she was met with insensitive demands at work during that time. Her appearance on the podcast comes amid growing interest in the potential return of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to the TV screen, here's everything she shared.
5 revelations Smriti Irani made on Raj Shamani's podcast
Returned to work three days after childbirth
Smriti Irani opened up about a deeply emotional and difficult period from her early television career while working on Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, one of India's most popular daily soaps. She recalled returning to the set just three days after giving birth to her son, driven by the demanding production schedule and the high expectations of the show's dedicated audience. At that time, the fast-paced nature of TV left little space for personal recovery, and Smriti felt it was her duty to keep the show running smoothly without causing any delays.
Smriti Irani's miscarriage and how she was asked to show proof
During the shoot of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Smriti Irani went through the traumatic experience of a miscarriage. Despite the immense physical and emotional strain, she chose to stay committed to her work, demonstrating extraordinary resilience. She recalled that producer Ravi Chopra granted her a short leave to recuperate, but the team at Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms couldn't afford a longer break due to the show's daily broadcast schedule. What made the situation even more painful was that some members of the crew accused her of faking the miscarriage to skip work. The allegations were so upsetting that Smriti felt she had no choice but to present her medical documents to Ekta Kapoor to validate the truth of her loss.
She wanted to clear her home loan ASAP
Smriti Irani recalled working non-stop until the very end of her ninth month of pregnancy, revealing that she had been instructed to shoot a backlog of 30 episodes and return to work after a month-long break. Despite warnings from her doctors and family, she continued shooting, determined to clear her home loan faster.
The actress was told she has been fired from Kuch Dil Se
While recovering in the hospital after giving birth, Smriti Irani was suddenly removed from her SAB TV talk show, Kuch Dil Se, even though she had pre-recorded a month's worth of episodes to accommodate her maternity leave.
However, she was hit with an unexpected blow. 'While I was still in the hospital after giving birth, I got a message saying, 'You're fired.' I had just shot an episode the day before. They waited for me to be admitted to the hospital before delivering the news and used my pre-recorded episodes to smoothly replace me,' she shared.
Smriti Irani talks about returning as Tulsi
When Raj Shamani asked Smriti Irani about making a comeback and whether she thought it would be fun, Smriti responded by asking him what his idea of fun was. Moments later, she spoke about how her character's weight was often discussed on the show, highlighting how easy it is to body shame women. She added that she is who she is, and Tulsi is what Ekta Kapoor envisions the character to be.
Talking about the comeback she said, "There's no dearth of work. I'm making a comeback for experience. Nobody gets to re-experience the same life from a new perspective. I'm getting that opportunity."