Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi


Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is an Indian soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The entire series is available on Hotstar. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under their banner Balaji Telefilms.
The show revolved around an ideal daughter-in-law Tulsi Virani, the daughter of a pandit married to the grandson of rich business tycoon Govardhan Virani. The role of the protagonist Tulsi Virani was played by Smriti Irani.

Plot

In the wealthy Virani family of Gujarat, its three daughters-in-law Savita, Daksha and Gayatri control other family members, especially their sons, creating trouble for their wise and kind-hearted mother-in-law Amba.
Savita arranges her son Mihir's marriage to Payal, a rich and arrogant girl, but Mihir falls in love with the family priest's daughter Tulsi. Payal's attitude irritates Mihir, who leaves her and marries Tulsi.
Tulsi is accepted by Viranis but Savita is determined to make her life hell. Eventually, she manages to win over Savita and later gives birth to her son Gautam Virani. Mihir meets with an accident and is declared dead.
Mihir survives but loses his memory. His caretaker Dr. Mandira falls in love with him. Her brother Anupam who also supervises Mihir's project proposes marriage to Tulsi after falling for her.
Reluctantly, Tulsi agrees but cancels the wedding when Mihir appears there alive. Gradually, he regains his memory. Mandira drugs him and they spend a night together, leading to her pregnancy.
Tulsi is pregnant again. Payal conspires against Viranis and wants their wealth and properties, but is exposed. It is revealed that Mandira is faking her pregnancy.
Tulsi gives Gautam to Mihir's sister-in-law Aarti who doesn't have a child. She also delivers a daughter Shobha. Aarti's fondness of Gautam grows into obsession and she leaves India with him and her husband Kiran.

23 years later

Tulsi and Mihir have another son Harsh. Mihir's cousin Hemant moves to Australia with his wife Pooja and son Tarun. Hemant's another son Sahil lives in Mumbai and runs family business.
Mihir's another cousin Chirag moves to the US for a job. Gautam returns with Kiran and Aarti, who now have a daughter Karishma. He discovers his birth parents and moves into Virani mansion.
Tulsi arranges Gautam's alliance to Sahil's love interest Ganga. After their wedding Gautam resents Tulsi by divorcing Ganga and marries his own love interest Teesha. Ganga weds Sahil and Shobha is also married.
Gautam and Teesha meet with an accident, and she dies. He marries Damini who gets pregnant. Ganga is also pregnant but miscarries whereas Damini delivers twins. Shobha's husband Abhishek's death makes her widowed.
Harsh is revealed to be Kesar's son given to Tulsi by Kesar, who held Tulsi's son Ansh in nursery and had him kidnapped. Ansh was then raised by Harsh's father Raj Bhasin's accomplice Aditya Gujral.
Aditya conspires with Ansh to acquire the Viranis' wealth. Ansh is obsessed with Nandini—friend of Karan. Tulsi accepts him later, and he loves her more than Mandira.
Although Nandini and Karan are in love he gets her married to Ansh, who maritally rapes her. Lawyer Meera Singhania becomes Tulsi's friend and fond of Mihir. Tulsi shoots Ansh to death as he tries to kill Nandini.
Nandini gets pregnant with Ansh's child and gives birth to their daughter Bhoomi before lapsing into a coma. Karan marries his friend Tanya to care for Bhoomi. Ganga gives birth to a son Lakshya.

3 years later

Tanya is pregnant; Nandini wakes up and lives with Karan, who marries her despite of Tanya. Aditya dies while trying to kidnap Bhoomi; Nandini takes the blame and is imprisoned.
Nandini gets pregnant with Karan's child. In past, Ansh was married to the late Shraddha and they have a son Eklavya. Presently, Gautam adopts Eklavya. Sahil indulges in affair with colleague Tripti.
Ganga is disowned; Sahil weds Tripti. Meera falls for Mihir and conspires with Mandira against Tulsi. Savita vows to expose them but they kill her. Meera blames Tulsi who is thrown out of the house.

25 years later

Tulsi's grandchildren including Bhoomi and Eklavya are grown-up. Tulsi raises an orphan named Krishna Tulsi. Eklavya looks just like his father Ansh. Missing from prison, Nandini is presumed dead. Ganga is estranged from the family.
Living in Haridwar and caring for Krishna Tulsi, Tulsi returns to Mumbai. Meera's misunderstandings are cleared up. Tulsi is reunited with her family. Meera is imprisoned for Savita's murder. In the final episode, Parvati from Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii says that she has Parth.

Cast

Main

Directors

Kyunki was directed by many directors starting with Kaushik Ghatak who initially directed the series for 150 episodes. In its progress it was directed by Ashish Patil, Nivedita Basu, Suraj Rao, Santosh Badal, Dharmesh Shah, Santram Varma, Santosh Bhatt, Garry Bhinder, Deepak Chavan, Sanotsh Bhatt, Fahad Kashmiri, Avhiroop Mazzumdar, Jeetu Arora, Santosh Kolhe, Vicky Chauhan, Rohit Dwivedi, Deepak Sharma, Shyam Maheshwari, Talat Jani, Hitesh Tejwani, Anoop Chaudhary and V.G Roy.

Development

The shooting of the serial began on 7 April 2000.
On 13 April 2005, the serial completed 1000 episodes which aired for 45 minutes rather than usual 30 minutes where producer Ekta Kapoor herself was seen in the episode.
Aksahdeep Saigal's entry scene in 2004 as Ansh Gujral was the serial's costliest scene shot which cost about Rs.5 Lakhs.
The show took a leap in story three times including 20 years leap on 18 February 2002, a 3 years leap and again a 20 years leap on 7 June 2006.
Before its premiere, it was titled as Amma. But actor and director Sachin Philgaonkar gave the name Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to Balaji Telefilms. Kyunki was added in front of it by Ekta Kapoor.
Besides shooting in India, the series was also shot in foreign locations including Sydney, Australia in 2003 and Switzerland. In India the series was filmed at Mumbai's Powai, Kandivali, Film City at Goregaon.
In 2007 and 2008, the series had a crossover with Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii.

Casting

The character Mihir was named after Ekta Kapoor's school friend Mihir Shah. The character Tulsi was adopted from Harkishan Mehta’s work, Jad Chetan.
Earlier, Jignesh Gandhi was cast as Mihir. However, later the role came down for Amar Upadhyay and Cezzane Khan. Upadhyay was chosen while Khan went for Kasautii Zindagii Kay. Smiti Irani auditioning among many girls was initially declined by the team in the production house stating her as 'not fit for TV'. But, producer Ekta Kapoor overruled them and cast her as Tulsi having great faith in her.
After Amar Upadhyay quit in 2001, after the death of his character, nationwide protests made him return. In 2002, on a generation leap, Upadhyay quit to venture into Bollywood and was replaced by Inder Kumar. After Kumar quit in 2003, he was replaced by Ronit Roy as Mihir.
In June 2007, Smriti Irani playing Tulsi quit the serial as she was busy producing her serials and was replaced by Gautami Kapoor. Soon, in April 2008, Irani returned and Kapoor's character was revealed as Tulsi's imposter.

Cancellation

On 10 October 2008, a notice was sent to the production house by the channel to terminate the serial by 10 November 2008 stating the declining ratings since July 2008.
To save the series from cancellation, the production house took Star TV to Bombay High Court seeking for the stay order asserting that they had a contract through March 2009 and that the channel had not provided appropriate promotion while the channel pointed out the cancellation due to declining ratings as per agreement. The court refused the stay order and the claims were dismissed in 3 November 2008. The series went off air on 6 November 2008.

Reception

Critics

Shailaja Bajpai from The Indian Express said, "Kyunki’s success was due to the fact that it was a universal story that appealed to everyone."
Another report from The Indian Express praising on the ratings delivered during its airing time slot said, "While prime-time television viewing is between 8 to 11 pm, the 9 to 10 pm block was considered safe because it delivered better ratings during the days of the weeklies. But the rule of game changed with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahanii Ghar Ghar Kii which made the late prime-time extremely popular." The ratings delivered by this series in its slot was not achieved by any other shows launched after its off air.
The Tribune comparing women depiction in the series with some of the Star World English series stated, "The women in Ally McBeal or Friends are nothing like those in Kahaani Ghar... or Kyunki.... Professionally competent, in control of their lives they are not to be held back by any stereotypical demands made on them. Perhaps one of the reasons for its success is the strong element of empathy it evokes.... what it depicts is probably kahaani ghar ghar ki."

Ratings

Produced with the backdrop of Mumbai and the concept of an ideal Gujarati joint family, the show made Producer Ekta Kapoor and Star Plus achieve great heights of success, by not only being the number 1 show on Indian Television which ran for eight constant long years but also receiving great TRPs.
It was the most watched Hindi GEC overall until 2005.
Until five weeks after its premiere, the ratings did not languish. After that, it started to rise gradually and also became the second most watched Hindi show of 2000 after Kaun Banega Crorepati with an average TRP of 6.4. In 2001, it averaged 12.04 TVR. In 2002 and 2003, it had an average of 12.50 and 12.30 TVR while in 2004 it was 11.42 TVR with a peak of 19.41 TVR maintaining its top position mostly with its higher ratings.
In week during 7 May to 13 May 2001, it was at first position with 16.6 TVR. On the week ending 26 September 2001, it topped the TRP list with 18.8 TVR. In third week of August 2002, it maintained its top position garnering 15.9 TVR. From 14 October to 20 October 2001 it garnered 12.74 TVR while during the same time in the next year 2002, it garnered 9.84 TVR. On week ending 22 November 2003, it was the most watched with 10.1 TVR.
In 2005, it became the most watched Hindi show however with about 10 TVR garnered lesser than previous years. As months passed, the TVR of the series decreased from double digits to single digit after 2006 due to fragmentation in viewership, however mostly maintaining its top position until months before its end. In week ending 1 March 2006, it maintained its top position garnering 9 TVR.
In early March 2007, it garnered 4 TVR while in early June, it got 4.4 TVR. When Irani was replaced by Gautami Kapoor temporarily as Tulsi in June 2007, the TVR dropped further while it lost its number one position averaging 4.5 TVR while in that month it averaged 6.66 TVR overall. In the week ending September 2007, it was beaten by Banoo Main Teri Dulhann with Kyunki garnering 5.51 TVR and Banaoo getting 5.62 TVR. However overall, it was one of the top rated series of the year with its peak rating garnered less than the previous years.
The show also went on to receive several awards, most of which were won by Smriti Irani for her portrayal of the ideal character Tulsi. It also won Best Continuing Series at Indian Telly Awards for six consecutive years and won Best Serial for five consecutive years at Indian Television Academy Awards.
The show is the longest ran daily soap on Indian television during 2000's, running from 2000-2008 and completing 1833 episodes and was first Indian soap opera to cross 1000 episodes in the history of Indian Television and also entered the Limca book of records. In 2008, its eighth year, the show was the top most show on Indian television averaging a TRP of 5.4. In early 2008, Kyunki had an average of 5 TVR while on progressing it dropped to 2.5 TVR.

Impact

The death of the lead character Mihir Virani in early 2001 lead to fan protest marches to bring the character back. The return of Mihir Virani in March 2001 brought an all-time high rating of 22.4 TVR, despite airing at late night slot of 10:30 pm, which has been one of the highest rating achieved by an Indian serial.
In January 2001, despite the earthquake occurred in Gujarat, people put their television for watching this series.
In February 2003, The Times of India reported that the people started recreating the grand sets of the series in their homes at Kolkata.
In 2001, a conflict arouse between Star India and the production house over the Tamil series titled Kelunga Mamiyare Neengalum Marumagal Than which began airing from April 2001 on Sun TV. While Star stated it as an exact copy of this series violating the copyright without their knowledge, Balaji Telefilms pointed only little similarities with the title meaning and the lead character name being similar. CEO of Balaji Telefilms Sanjay Doshi stated that the script of the Tamil series was already changed after episode 15.
In January 2002, the company Proctor & Gamble, for advertising their detergent brand Tide aired the spoof version of the series consisting of the cast Smriti Irani, Aparna Mehta and Muni Jha of the series which was telecast on a rival channel. Both Star and Balaji Telefilms reported it as a copyright violation considering the advertisement which uses the same sets, backdrop, announcement fonts and musics along with the cast of the series. Star filed a case against Leo Burnett and the case was heard before Bombay court in 2003.
In February 2002, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation lodged a FIR at Andheri police station against Star TV and Balaji Telefilms when the episode aired on 5 February 2002 showed the character Puja undergoing pre sex determination test of her unborn child and also the doctor encouraging her for the child being a son. As per Pre-natal Diagnostic Technology Act of 1994, the test is illegal which was violated by the series. Many NGOs and state women organisation also protested against the episode sequence. However, both Kapoor and Star asked apology for portraying it for which Kapoor said, "It was not intentional. There was a slight lapse on the part of the writer of the script." while Star stated it as a genuine mistake and apologised in a subsequent episode.
In November 2004, Kapoor was summoned by National Commission for Women and even Star was sent a notice following complaints from many women groups for showing a marital rape sequence of character Nandhini by Ansh Gunral for 15 minutes in the episode aired on 14 October 2004 considering it more sensitive as the series had viewers from all age groups. Kapoor's lawyer stated that they will appear on 1 December 2004, along with a copy of the episode to submit to them, while channel defended that they were mindful of their programs and they are for general viewing. However, when Kapoor failed to appear on that day, sending her two lawyers to represent her, the case was adjourned for Kapoor's appearance on 14 December 2004. However, on her demand, it was further adjourned to 3 January 2005.
In January 2006, protests in front of Balaji Telefilms office at Andheri took place against the depicted scene of mercy killing, which was illegal then in India, of character Savitha done by the lead character Tulsi in the series. However Kapoor stated, "I dealt with marital rape in Kyunki…, didn’t I? Then why can’t I show euthanasia? TV is fiction and we are only bringing up social issues. If there is any problem, my legal department will take care of it." while Star India's senior creative director Shailaja Kejriwal stated, "We at Star, along with Balaji Telefilms, have decided to take up social issues that are not talked about openly. We just though that euthanasia is a subject of great importance… we should talk about it and keep the topic alive." Smriti Irani playing Tulsi who did the mercy killing of character Aparna said that she doesn't support mercy killing while she, who was uncomfortable for doing it, said that she did the sequence considering that she would have been labelled as an unprofessional actor.
In January 2008, the dialogue "You and your God, go to hell" pointing against lord Vishnu deity in an episode said by the antagonist Suvarna Jha playing Tripti hurted the sentiments of many people and Vaishnav community. Protests and rally arouse at Junagadh lead by the priests and various Vaishnav followers who also submitted a memo to the district collector for Balaji Telefilms, Producer Ekta Kapoor and Suvarna Jha to apologise for it. Many also criticised it as a move for increasing ratings. However, Kapoor stated that it was not their intention and they also being having Vishnu faith, requested apology from everyone.
In February 2008, Pulkit Samrat playing Lakshya got a notice from court stating his non absence for shooting and no response for phone calls from production house, filed by the production house while Samrat stated that he attended the shoots regularly but was idle for most of the time with inconsequential scenes and so wished to work alongside with other series. This problem arouse when he before complained to them for non payment of dues and the contract which doesn't permit him to work for other production houses. The notice was received after these incidents after which he went to court and was relieved from the series and production house after the verdict.
Acknowleding the impact of some of her shows including Kyunki, Ekta Kapoor stated, " They were heavily stylised and melodramatic. But they actually gave Indian women a voice. There’s research that shows that after cable penetration, from about 2001 to 2005, which is when my shows ran, India, for the first time, saw women take decisions on family issues. This had never happened before, and it was directly linked to the fact that we made the women in our shows do this."

Adaptations

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was dubbed in Sinhala language and broadcast on Sirasa TV where it was titled as Maha Gedara. It was also dubbed in Dari language and was aired on Tolo TV in Afghanistan.

Awards

;Indian Telly Awards
YearCategoryRecipientRole
2002Best Actress of The YearSmriti IraniTulsi Virani
2002Best Television PersonalityAmar UpadhyayMihir Virani
2002Best TV Show of The YearEkta Kapoor
2002Best Continuing TV ShowEkta Kapoor
2003Best Actress of The YearSmriti IraniTulsi Virani
2003Best Television PersonalitySmriti IraniTulsi Virani
2003Best Daily SerialEkta Kapoor
2003Best Continuing TV ProgrammeEkta Kapoor
2004Best Actor of The YearHiten TejwaniKaran Virani
2004Best Continuing TV ProgrammeEkta Kapoor
2005Best Child Artiste Chinky JaiswalBhoomi Virani
2005Best Actor in a Supporting RoleHiten TejwaniKaran Virani
2005Best Actress in a Supporting RoleGauri Pradhan TejwaniNandini Virani
2005Best Actor in a Negative RoleAkashdeep SaighalAnsh Gujral
2005Best Continuing TV ProgrammeEkta Kapoor
2006Best Actor in a Supporting RoleHiten TejwaniKaran Virani
2006Best Fresh New Face Pulkit SamratLakshya Virani
2006Best Television PersonalityRonit RoyMihir Virani
2006Best Continuing TV ProgrammeEkta Kapoor
2007Best Actor in a Supporting Role Hiten TejwaniKaran Virani
2007Best Actress in a Supporting Role Gauri Pradhan TejwaniNandini Virani
2007Best Continuing SerialEkta Kapoor
2010Best Actor of The DecadeRonit RoyMihir Virani

;Indian Television Academy Awards
YearCategoryRecipientRole
2001Best Actor Amar UpadhyayMihir Virani
2001Best Actress Smriti IraniTulsi Virani
2001Best Serial Ekta Kapoor
2001Best Star CastEkta Kapoor
2002Best Actress Smriti IraniTulsi Virani
2002Best Serial Ekta Kapoor
2003Best Actor Ronit RoyMihir Virani
2003Best Actress Smriti IraniTulsi Virani
2003Best Serial Ekta Kapoor
2003Best AudiographyVikas Patil
2004Best Actor Ronit RoyMihir Virani
2004Best Actress Smriti IraniTulsi Virani
2004Best Serial Ekta Kapoor
2005Best Actor Hiten TejwaniKaran Virani
2005Best Actress Smriti IraniTulsi Virani
2005Best Serial Ekta Kapoor
2005Best Supporting Actress Shilpa SaklaniGanga Virani
2006Best Teleplay Anil Nagpal
2010ITA Milestone AwardSudha Shivpuri
Apara Mehta
Smriti Irani
Hiten Tejwani
Sumeet Sachdev		Baa
Savita
Tulsi
Karan
Gautam

Others