Smriti :from bahu to mother--Coverstory

Ann

S HE WAS the bahu of all bahus, the saas of all saas'. She reigned supreme over her TV audience for seven years. When she cried, housewives from Surat to Ranchi cried into their curries. When she laughed, they laughed with her. When she gave discourses on the sac- rifices all good Indian women should make, many of us choked on our cof- fees. And when she died a few days ago, her fans went into mourning. Whatever she did, Tulsi Virani, bahu extraordinaire, suffering saint and star of serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, drew extreme reac- tions everywhere. Why? What was it about this plain housewife that attracted so many people to her? "I think it was the strength of her character. She was simple, straight- forward and honest to the core. She didn't mince words and fought against all wrongs and yet kept the family together," says Smriti Irani, the actress who is still better known as Tulsi. "There were no histrionics at- tached to Tulsi. And she matured in thought and action and looks with age," Smriti adds. For many people, the character wasn't just the Virani bahu. She was their Tulsi. "That was perhaps the greatest factor. People didn't think of Tulsi as a star. At times, they perhaps even forgot that it was acting. They identified with her. For them, her hurt and laughter were real," says Smriti. But along with the applause came criticism. Critics have called her preachy and regressive among other things but Smriti has her defences ready. She has had years of practice. "I am perhaps the most loved and the most hated woman on screen. I really can't remember the last time somebody wrote something nice about me. But I don't regret it. Tulsi was called regressive, but can a re- gressive woman fight for the rights of a daughter-in-law who is raped by her own son? Or can she kill her own son? Is being respectful to elders a sign of regression? I don't think one can become modern just by wearing western clothes. It's all in the mind. Tulsi had modern views. She didn't need to wear jeans to prove that," as- serts Smriti. Smriti defined the nuances of her character so well that the lines of dis- tinction diminished. She played Tulsi to the hilt. Whether she was promot- ing her serial by visiting different households or campaigning for the BJP in New Delhi before the 13th Lok Sabha election, Smriti's Tulsi per- sona ruled. When she canvassed for votes, people came in the thousands just to get a glimpse of the ideal bahu. Nobody ever thought that a charac- ter who was initially conceived as just another bahu to add masala to the usual kitchen politics would be- come such a phenomenon. "We never anticipated Tulsi's pop- ularity. As her popularity grew, so did her stature in the serial. The audi- ence wanted to see Tulsi grow. They wanted her to take decisions. Tulsi became their aspirational figure. We got the impetus and used the oppor- tunity to the fullest," says Shivangi Singh Chauhan, creative director, Balaji Telefilms. And Tulsi grew with each major incident in her life. Be it her husband Mihir's death, her murder of son Ansh, her decision to euthanise her mother-in-law or even her own death, the production house saw to it that Tulsi became bigger with each episode. Smriti has grown as a professional too, coming a long way from the time she swept floors at a McDonald's out- let in Mumbai. "I came to Mumbai from Delhi to earn a living. This was the only place where I could have done something on my own. Ektaa spotted me when I did a small part in Bakeman's Ooh La La and called me to audition. I got the role only because she thought I could do it. In fact, she overruled most peo- ple in Balaji who thought I wasn't a good idea. Thank God, I proved her right," says Smriti. She did more than that, by turning into a TV producer successfully. But in between playing all these roles to perfection, where did the real Smriti go? Didn't the larger-than-life character of Tulsi overpower Smri- ti's persona? "Yes it did. Tulsi is larger than life. For a long time people just knew me as Tulsi, not Smriti. But that's the way it is. Though I have consciously tried to move beyond Tulsi, I cannot really deny her. Neither do I wish to. She is the one who has made me what I am today," Smriti smiles.