20 Years of 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi': Smriti Irani-Ekta Kapoor get nostalgic with memorable videos
Smriti Irani and Ekta Kapoor took a trip down memory lane as 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' completed 20 years of its airing.
On July 3, 2000, Ekta Kapoor launched her most popular show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi which has gone down in the history of Indian television. With this show, Ekta also launched actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani in the leading role as Tulsi. Today, as the show completed two decades of its airing, Ekta and Smriti took to a trip down memory lane and shared anecdotes. They also thanked the whole team for being a part of the show.
Ekta wrote, "20 years today to Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...! I remember sitting nervously in front of Sameer Sir and Tarun pitching 'Kyunki...' to them. Telling them 'saas-bahu' drama could work... and that we were willing to do it in 1 lac. Then Tarun called my mum & said 'I'm calling to negotiate'... my mum said 'No no, we can’t do it in under a lac...' and he responded saying 'Sameer Nair has said we will give you 1.40 lac for it... pls spend on this show!' Never has it happened that a channel has negotiated and given more money because they wanted better quality. But that was the conviction and backing the channel gave us. For the 1st time, a daily soap was on prime time and went onto make history, as we know it. Immense gratitude to Sameer sir, Tarun Katiyal, the entire cast & crew behind Kyunki, Monisha, and StarPlus! @sameern @tarunkatial07 @smritiiraniofficial @monishasinghkatial @starplus".
She further shared a video and captioned it stating, "20 years to Kyunki... A show that changed my life. Back then it was touted as India's 'soft ambassador', owing to its popularity and reach across the globe. Thank you to the network for giving us a chance at that time. I remember reading about how when the Gujarat earthquake happened, ppl put their TV sets out and watched Kyunki. There hasn't been a more humbling moment for me. Thank you for all the love that was sent our way. Thank you Sameer sir, Tarun Katiyal, Monisha, the entire cast & crew behind Kyunki, and StarPlus! @sameern @tarunkatial07 @smritiiraniofficial @monishasinghkatial @starplus".
Ekta went on to write about the three-year journey of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi when the show had completed 1000 episodes. The czarina of TV wrote, "This was when 'Kyunki...' completed 3 years and hit a 1000 episodes. The show continued to grow and prosper as did our erratic eating hours & crazy schedules. We put in almost 18 hrs a day into it! A big thank you to all the writers, the creatives and actors. And a special thank you to my favourite person who went onto become a Cabinet Minister and made us all proud. @smritiiraniofficial".
On the other hand, Smriti shared her one of the first scenes with late Sudha Shivpuri who played the role of Baa. The actor-turned-politician wrote, "20 years ago this was possibly one of my first scenes with Sudha Aunty. I raced through my lines, nervous as hell coz @ektarkapoor was called to the shooting floor by the director who told her the project was a sure shot flop since the girl cast as Tulsi did not have the talent to see it through. Upon enquiring why I was not unleashing my full potential as an actor I told her "can I play the character as I deem fit instead of being told how to emote?" I promised her I'd take the help of every colleague possible if I felt I can't measure up alone. EK said done and the rest was TV history. Today 2 decades later in absentia I say thank you for the belief @ektarkapoor, thank you @monishasinghkatial for first refusing to cast me & then supporting me all the way. Thank you to the ever-changing Mihir from @amarupadhyay_official to dada @ronitboseroy. To kids like @karishmaktanna @ihansika @masumimewawalla @mounirooy & all those, I have not been able to name. To bahus ranging from @gpradhan @shilpa_saklani_official & sons @meetsumeet18 @hitentejwani, Sandeep Baswana... & many more relationships I lived on screen who are friends for life. To @mandirabedi & @jaya.bhattacharya who were the best on-screen villains possibly and absolute sweethearts off-screen. Many more who were a part of the journey... I cherish every moment & especially am grateful to the viewers who kept our passions alive.#20yearsofkyunkiisaasbhikabhibahuthi".