Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thii
Intertitle of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
Created by	Balaji Telefilms
Written by	Story R M Joshi, Salil Sand, Anil Nagpal, Koel Chaudhary, Mitesh Shah & Swati Shah Screenplay R M Joshi, Vipul Mehta, Bhavin Patel, Nayana Dasgupta, Mitesh Shah, Salil Sand, Kamlesh Kunti Singh, Anil Nagpal, Archita Biswas, Mrinal Jha and Swati Shah Dialogues Dilip Rawal, Anand Gandhi, Sunjoy Shekhar, Rekkha Modi, Brij Mohan Pandey and Vinod Sharma
Directed by	Ashish Patil, Kaushik Ghatak, Nivedita Basu Suraj Rao, Santosh Badal, Dharmesh Shah, Santram Verma, 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 and many more
Creative director(s)	Monisha Singh, Aparna Dubey, Ekta R Bahri, Bhairvi Shah, Shivangi Singh Chauhan, Shipra Arora, Doyel Som, Vikas Gupta (producer)
Starring	See below
Opening theme	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi by Priya Bhattacharya
Country of origin	India
Original language(s)	Hindi
No. of episodes	1833
Production
Producer(s)	Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor
Cinematography	Raju Halasagi, Sudesh Kotian, Deepak Malwankar, Sanjay Malwankar, Ashok Salian and Sanjay Memane
Editor(s)	Dharmesh Shah, Sanjeev Shukla, and Sagar S Naighojkar
Running time	24 minutes
Production company(s)	Balaji Telefilms
Release
Original network	STAR Plus
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Original release	3 July 2000 – 6 November 2008

The first three generations of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (English: Because a mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, too) is an Indian soap opera that premiered on 3 July 2000 on Star Plus. The show revolves 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. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under their banner Balaji Telefilms.

Produced with the backdrop of Mumbai and the concept of an ideal Gujarati joint family, the show made Producer Ekta Kapoor and Network Star Plus achieve great heights of success, by not only being the number 1 show on Indian Television^[1] for eight constant long years but also receiving great TRPs.^[2][3] 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. The show also won Best Continuing Series at Indian Telly Awards for six consecutive years (2002-2007) and won Best Serial (Popular) for five consecutive years(2001-2005) at Indian Television Academy Awards.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was dubbed in Sinhala language and broadcast on Sirasa TV where it was titled as Maha Gedara ("Big Home" in Sinhalese).^[4][5] It was also dubbed in Dari language and was aired on Tolo TV in Afghanistan.^[6][7][8][9]

The show is one of the longest running daily soap on Indian television, running from 2000-2008 and completing 1833 episodes.^[10] The show set a benchmark by maintaining double digit TRPs for over five years in succession and its numero uno position among the Indian television shows throughout its run. Even in its eighth year 2008, the show was the topmost show on Indian television averaging a TRP of 5.4.^[11][12]

The death of the character of Mihir Virani in 2001 lead to fan protest marches to bring back the character back.^[13] The return of Mihir Virani brought an all-time high TRP of 22.4 for the show which has been the highest TRP achieved by an Indian serial.^[14][15]

After being cut, the studio took the station to court asserting that they had a contract through March 2009 and that the station had not provided appropriate promotion. The claims were dismissed in November 2008.^[16][17][18]

Plot summary

Tulsi Virani (Smriti Irani) falls in love with Mihir Virani (grandson of tycoon Govardhan Virani); they marry, although his family chose Payal for Mihir. Tulsi is called "Baa" by the family.

She gives birth to Gautam. During Tulsi's second pregnancy, it is learned that her sister-in-law (Aarti) cannot have children. Although Tulsi decides to give them Gautam, Aarti and her husband Kiran kidnap the child. Tulsi goes into labour and gives birth to a daughter, Shobha.

Mihir has four cousins. Chirag (in the TV industry) marries Prajakta—despite objections by his mother, Daksha—who becomes Tulsi's confidante. Sejal and Suhani get married and the fourth cousin, Hemant, marries his assistant Pooja.

Twenty years later, Tulsi and Mihir are the parents of Shobha and a son, Harsh; Sahil and Tarun are Hemant and Pooja's sons. Sejal divorced her husband and lives in the Virani mansion with her daughter, Indu; Chirag is the father of twin daughters, and Tulsi misses Gautam. Hemant, Pooja and Tarun move to Australia; Sahil lives in Mumbai and runs the family business. Chirag moves to the U.S. for a job, and Suhani is happy at home. Gautam returns and Kiran has a daughter, Kairshma. Gautam learns about his birth parents, moves into the Virani mansion and squabbles with Sahil about business. Tulsi arranges his engagement to Ganga, who appreciates the family's support of her widowed mother. Gautam loves Teesha and Sahil loves Ganga, but Sahil and Ganga sacrifice their love and Gautam resents his mother. He divorces Ganga and marries Teesha, Ganga marries Sahil and Shobha is also married. Teesha and Gautam have an accident, and Teesha dies; Gautam marries Damini. Damini and Ganga are both pregnant; when Ganga has a miscarriage, Damini gives her one of her twin boys. The pregnant Shobha is widowed. Tulsi's sister, Kesar, tells Tulsi that Harsh is Tulsi's son. When Kesar held Tulsi's baby in the nursery, her child's father kidnapped it. Kesar gave Tulsi Harsh, saying that she had a miscarriage. Tulsi's son is Ansh Gujaral, son of criminal tycoon Aditya Gujaral (an accomplice of Raj Malhotra, father of Kesar's child). Before his death he gave his son to Gujaral, who raised him. Aditya Gujaral conspires with Ansh to acquire the Viranis' wealth. Ansh becomes obsessed with Nandini, a friend of Karan (Mihir's son with Mandira Kapadia). After 20 years, Tulsi learns about her stepson and accepts him; Karan loves Tulsi more than his own mother. Although Nandini and Karan are in love, Karan gives her to Tulsi's birth son. Nandini marries Ansh out of duty, and he rapes her. Ansh is charged with marital rape; lawyer Meera Singhania becomes Tulsi's friend and fond of Mihir. Ansh escapes and tries to kill Nandini; Tulsi shoots him dead and is imprisoned. Nandini has an accident when she is pregnant with Ansh's child, gives birth to daughter Bhoomi and lapses into a coma. Karan marries Nandidni's friend, Tanya, to care for Bhoomi. Ganga has a baby boy, Lakshya. Three years later, when Tanya learns about her pregnancy, Nandini emerges from her coma. Karan and Nandini live together; when she learns about his marriage to Tanya, she accepts Tanya and her child. Aditya Gujaral dies mysteriously, and Karan takes the blame. Nandini confesses to the murder; he was trying to kidnap Bhoomi. Imprisoned for life, she is pregnant with Karan's child. Ansh had a wife (Shraddha) and son (Eklavya). Shraddha is dead, and Gautam adopts Eklavya. Ganga is thrown out of her home when Sahil has an affair with colleague Tripti and marries her. Meera, in love with Mihir, conspires with Mandira against Tulsi. Mihir's mother, Savita, vows to expose the conspiracy. Mandira and Meera arrange Savita's death; Meera blames Tulsi, who is thrown out of her home.

Twenty years later, Tulsi's grandchildren are grown; Nandini, missing from prison, is presumed dead. Ganga is estranged from the family. Tulsi, living in Haridwar and caring for her adopted daughter Krishna Tulsi, returns to Mumbai. Meera's misunderstandings are cleared up, and Tulsi is reunited with her family; Meera is imprisoned for murdering Savita. In the final episode, Parvati (Sakshi Tanwar) from Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii says that she has Tulsi's grandson, Parth (Karan and Nandini's long-lost son).^[19]

Cast

• Dinesh Thakur / Sudhir Dalvi as Govardhan Virani
• Sudha Shivpuri as Amba Govardhan Virani
• Shakti Singh as Mansukh Govardhan Virani
• Jitendra Trehan as Himmat Govardhan Virani
• Muni Jha as Jamnadas Govardhan Virani
• Apara Mehta as Savita Mansukh Virani
• Ketki Dave as Daksha Himmat Virani
• Kamalika Guha Thakurta as Gayatri Jamnadas Virani
• Amar Upadhyay / Inder Kumar / Ronit Roy as Mihir Mansukh Virani
• Jiten Lalwani as Kiran Mansukh Virani
• Hussain Kuwajerwala / Amit Mistry as Chirag Himmat Virani
• Pooja Ghai Rawal as Suhasi Himmat Virani / Suhasi Rakesh Mehta
• Rakesh Paul as Vikram Naveen Sanghvi
• Shakti Anand as Hemant Jamnadas Virani
• Khyaati Khandke Keswani as Sejal Jamnadas Virani / Sejal Anand Gandhi
• Smriti Irani as Tulsi Mihir Virani
• Eva Grover / Rushali Arora as Aarti Patel / Aarti Kiran Virani
• Aman Verma as Anupam Kapadia
• Mandira Bedi / Achint Kaur as Dr.Mandira Kapadia / Dr.Mandira Mihir Virani
• Narayani Shastri / Resham Tipnis as Kesar Anupam Kapadia
• Tuhina Vohra as Prajakta Deshmukh / Prajakta Chirag Virani
• Prachi Shah as Pooja Hemant Virani
• Jaya Bhattacharya as Payal Parikh / Payal Pratap Mehra
• Romanchak Arora as Anand Gandhi
• Prashant Bhatt as Rakesh Mehta
• Pratim Parekh as Naveen Sanghvi
• Utkarsha Naik as Pragya Govardhan Virani / Pragya Naveen Sanghvi
• Shubhavi K. as Advocate Meera Singhania
• Makrand Deshpande as Advocate Vijay Saxena
• Vishal Puri as Raj Bhasin
• Salim Shah as Aditya Gujral
• Ram Kapoor as Advocate Shahdaab / Jas Thakral
• Gautami Kapoor as Juhi Jas Thakral / Tulsi Mihir Virani / Juhi Jas Thakral
• Sumeet Sachdev as Gautam Mihir Virani / Gautam Kiran Virani
• Hiten Tejwani as Karan Mihir Virani
• Akashdeep Saigal as Ansh Mihir Virani / Ansh Aditya Gujral
• Ritu Chaudhary as Shobha Mihir Virani / Shobha Vishal Mehra / Shobha Abhishek
• Mehul Kajaria as Harsh Raj Bhasin / Harsh Mihir Virani
• Kiran Dubey as Karishma Kiran Virani / Karishma Shantanu Dey
• Hansika Motwani / Chandni Bhagwanani as Child Bavri Chirag Virani
• Mausami as Child Savri Chirag Virani
• Amita Chandekar as Bavri Chirag Virani
• Sandeep Baswana / Amit Sareen / Sandeep Baswana as Sahil Hemant Virani
• Abhijit Khurana / Aloke Desai as Tarun Hemant Virani
• Karishma Tanna as Indira Anand Gandhi
• Chaitanya Choudhury as Kabir Patel
• Shabbir Ahluwalia as Aniket Rakesh Mehta
• Karanvir Bohra / Pradeep Kharab / Samir Sharma as Tushar Rakesh Mehta
• Ashlesha Sawant as Teesha Mehta / Teesha Gautam Virani
• Riva Bubber as Damini Khanna / Damini Gautam Virani
• Gauri Pradhan Tejwani as Nandini Thakkar / Nandini Karan Virani
• Nikhil Arya as Aseem Gupta
• Rakshanda Khan as Tanya Malhotra / Tanya Karan Virani
• Moonmoon Banerjee as Shraddha Ansh Virani / Shraddha Ansh Gujral
• Rohit Bakshi (actor) as Vishal Pratap Mehra
• Sonal Chainani as Urvashi Pratap Mehra
• Tasneem Sheikh as Mohini Mittal / Mohini Harsh Virani
• Narendra Jha as Shantanu Dey
• Vivan Bhatena / Nasir Kazi as Abhishek
• Shilpa Saklani as Ganga Joshi / Ganga Gautam Virani
• Yash Tonk as Shiv Singhania
• Suvarna Jha as Tripti Rishabh Malhotra / Tripti Sahil Virani / Babli
• Reshmi Ghosh as Bhoomi Ansh Virani / Bhoomi Joydeep Virani
• Salil Acharya as Billy Jas Thakral
• Amit Tandon as Manthan Karan Virani
• Pulkit Samrat / Yash Pandit as Lakshya Sahil Virani
• Mouni Roy as Krishna Tulsi / Krishna Tulsi Eklavya Virani
• Garima Bhatnagar as Pari
• Naman Shaw as Nakul Gautam Virani / Nakul Sahil Virani
• Manav Vij as Joydeep Sahil Virani
• Gunjan Vijaya as Archita Harsh Virani / Archita Abir Bhasin
• Manoj Biddvai / Vikas Sethi as Abir Raj Bhasin
• Kratika Sengar / Anita Hassanandani as Sanchi Nakul Virani
• Tia Bajpai as Vaidehi Lakshya Virani
• Hasan Zaidi as Advocate Aditya Rai Singhania
• Kratika Sengar as Sugandi Mihir Virani
• Sandeep Rajora as Inspector Aryan
• Sudha Chandran as Justice Renuka Chaudhary / ACP Ragini Suryavanshi
• Prabhat Bhattacharya as Rishabh Malhotra
• Priyanka Raina as Doctor
• Meena Sonavane as Family Friend
• Deepak Verma as Rahul
• Chetan Hansraj as Inspector Maan Singh Chauhan
• Chinky Jaiswal as Child Bhoomi Ansh Virani
• Rahul Lohani as Mayank Gautam Virani
• Sakshi Tanwar as Parvati Om Agarwal / Janki Devi Dixit
• Suhasini Mulay as Kaushalya Malhotra
• Amey Pandya as Child Eklavya Ansh Virani
• Aditya Kapadia as Hitesh Chirag Virani
• Anurag Nigam as Sunny Chirag Virani
• Induben Mehta as Godawari Dadi
• Sandeep Mohan as Police Inspector
• Hemant Choudhary as Inspector Ashutosh
• Parmeet Sethi as Ravi
• Rocky Verma as Manager
• Sunny Moza as Sunny
• Nikhil Guharoy as Kabir Sikand
• Aashka Goradia as Razia
• Cezanne Khan as Rizwan
• Eijaz Khan as Zuber
• Manish Khanna as Advocate Mehta
• Ekta Kapoor as Ekta Kapoor
• Shahab Khan as Aditya Gujral's Advocate
• Jeetendra Kapoor as Jitesh Kothari
• Angad Hasija as Angad
• Aruna Irani as Narayani Devi
• Ali Asgar (actor) as Kamal Vishwanath Agarwal
• Mita Vashisht as Trishna Kamal Agarwal

Awards

Star Parivaar Awards

Others

See also

• Star India v Leo Burnett: a court case involving the claim that a commercial imitating the show violated copyright law.

References

External links

• Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on hotstar
• Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi at the Internet Movie Database