Former television star and politician shares harrowing experiences from her acting days, including being fired immediately after childbirth.
In a candid revelation that has shocked the entertainment industry, Smriti Irani has opened up about the harsh treatment she endured during her television career, including being forced to prove her miscarriage with hospital documents and being terminated from a show just one day after giving birth.
Speaking on Raj Shamani's podcast, the former Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi star detailed the extreme pressures she faced while working on the popular daily soap in the early 2000s. The actress, who became a household name playing Tulsi Virani, revealed she returned to work just three days after delivering her son.
"My son was three days old when I came back to the set of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Why? Because everyone wanted to watch a new episode daily at 10:30 pm," Irani shared, highlighting the relentless demands of daily television production.
Perhaps the most disturbing revelation came when Irani described how she was accused of lying about suffering a miscarriage. Someone from the production team reportedly told producer Ekta Kapoor that Irani was fabricating her condition to avoid work.
"Somebody in the production went and told Ekta, 'We're ready to shoot. But Smriti Irani isn't available. She is lying. Nothing has happened to her.' So I had to go back with my hospital reports to prove it happened," she recalled.
The incident forced Irani to bring her medical documents to the studio to validate her trauma. In an earlier interview, she mentioned telling Kapoor, "I would have shown you the foetus also had it been there," emphasising the extent of humiliation she endured.
Irani's ordeal extended beyond Kyunki to another project, the talk show Kuch Dil Se on SAB TV. Despite working until her ninth month of pregnancy and creating a month's worth of content in advance, she received devastating news while still in the hospital after delivery.
"I'm in the hospital after giving birth to my baby, and I get a wire: 'You're fired.' And I'd just shot for the talk show a day before. They were just waiting for me to get into the hospital to tell me I'm fired," she revealed.
The production team had already prepared enough content to facilitate her replacement with a film star. However, Irani's faith in karma proved correct; the show eventually shut down and never returned to the air.
In contrast to the insensitivity shown by others, filmmaker Ravi Chopra demonstrated compassion during Irani's miscarriage. While working on Ramayan under his direction, Chopra insisted she take time off to recover, showing the empathy that was lacking elsewhere in the industry.
Despite these painful experiences, Irani is set to return to television, reprising her iconic role as Tulsi Virani in the rebooted version of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, premiering on July 29 on StarPlus and JioHotstar.
Her revelations shed light on the often overlooked struggles of television actors, particularly women, in an industry that prioritises content delivery over human welfare.
