Smriti Irani recalls getting fired from TV show after giving birth: 'I’m in the hospital…'

Smriti Irani is a household name, thanks to Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, but behind the scenes, her journey was far from easy. The actress was a working woman in the television industry during the early 2000s.

Smriti Irani shared on Raj Shamani’s podcast that she resumed filming for Kyunki just three days after giving birth. “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," she said. Simultaneously, Smriti was navigating motherhood, a rigorous filming schedule, and coping with personal grief. “I continued to work on the show even post a miscarriage," she shared.

Smriti recalled, “Somebody in the production went and told Ekta, ‘We’re ready to shoot. But Smriti Irani isn’t available. She is lying. Nothing has actually happened to her.’ So I had to go back with my hospital reports to prove it actually happened."

She recounted that her commitment was repeatedly tested. While working on "Kuch Dil Se," she was instructed to film a month's worth of episodes before taking a break and returning within a month of giving birth. She explained, "I was working with somebody till the last day of the ninth month. It was a daily talk show," and despite family and doctor's concerns, she continued working to manage a home loan.

“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 said.

Smriti revealed that the producers had already planned her replacement, leveraging her pre-recorded episodes. "Their intention was to use my hard work in favour of my replacement."

She didn’t retaliate, though. “I just smiled," she said, confident that karma would do its job. “They hired a film actor for it. Their exhibit was much bigger, they were a bigger name. And the show shut down. It never started again."