I Needed Job: Smriti Irani Says Return To TV With Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 After Amethi Defeat Was ‘Liberating’ – EXCL

Smriti Irani stepped back in front of the camera in 2025 after nearly two decades away from the entertainment industry. This was following her defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. And, safely enough, Irani chose to reprise her iconic role as Tulsi Virani for her return in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2. The decision wasn’t easy. Irani, a senior BJP leader, had to convince many people in the industry for her comeback after a well-planned exit from Ektaa Kapoor’s legendary daily soap to pursue her political dreams. In an exclusive conversation on Baatein Dil Se with Navika Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, The Times Group, Irani got candid about her move back to the screen.

To begin with, Irani revealed that she had to personally call the concerned people looking for a job. “I picked up my phone and asked for a job in media and entertainment. I said I’m unemployed; can you give me something?”

The actor-turned-politician shared that Uday Shankar, the Vice-Chairman of JioHotstar and Star, joined when Kyunki had ended. “He was the reason why I lost my job in the entertainment. Then, he also became a reason why I joined back.”

“I told him, ‘Sir, I don’t have a job. Can you help me?’ At that time, Uday was overseas, and when he heard what I was saying, he asked me, ‘Are you sure? You had been a Cabinet minister, and now you are asking for a job?’ I said, I don’t think there is anything wrong with returning to my professional field,” Irani reminisced.

Irani recalled Shankar’s reminder to her about how gruelling and demanding television jobs were. “Those who know the work understand this. You can work upto 12 hours shift, and you are never really off the job. So he asked me if I was sure to go out and work as an employee on a set,” Irani claimed.

But she was sure. According to her, “There is no harm in it.” She then shared how people reacted to seeing her on set. “I think everybody on the set was a little flabbergasted. People were wondering, how will I work with the daily wages,” she shared.

The decision was, however, “liberating” as nobody expected her to do that. “There is also something liberating about accepting that circumstances can change and being willing to start again. There’s no friend in politics. You can have co-workers while serving,” she opined. “God watched me carrying a 200-kilo burden on my back for those 2 years in politics. So a time will come when God will tell me, sit and get rid of some burden. I look at life in those 2 years from that perspective,” Irani added.

Smriti Irani has been playing Tulsi Virani, a role she embodied ever since Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi launched in 2000. She played the character till 2008 and rejoined after a political hiatus in 2025, when the show returned with its second season, also bringing back most of its original cast, including Amar Upadhyay as Mihir Virani, along with Hiten Tejwani, Gauri Pradhan, Sumeet Sachdev, Jiten Lalwani, Kamalika Guha, Shakti Anand, Ritu Chaudhary and others.

 airs on Star Plus and streams digitally on JioHotstar.