Smriti Irani

Smriti Zubin Irani (née Malhotra; pronounced [ˈsmɾɪt̪i ɪˈɾaːni]; born 23 March 1976) is an Indian politician, actress, fashion model, and television producer. She received widespread acclaim for her role of Tulsi Virani in the soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi by Ekta Kapoor, which became the most watched show at its time and won her numerous accolades. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Irani has held various roles within the Indian Union Cabinet. Before entering politics, Irani had a successful career in the entertainment industry. In 2025, after nearly 2 decades away from acting, Irani reprised her role of Tulsi Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2.

Her paternal family includes Punjabi and Marathi heritage, while her maternal family has a Bengali heritage. Irani joined as a BJP karyakarta in 2003 and since then has completed more than 22 years in the BJP. With over three-generation family of party supporters, from her grandfather as a swayamsevak, and mother as a BJP booth activist, it highlights that her relationship with the party is familial.

A prominent leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, she had been a member of the Indian parliament from 2011 to 2024, serving in the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat from 2011 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2024 as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. She was also the National President of the BJP Mahila Morcha (the party's women's wing) from 2010 to 2013. Apart from this, Irani has been National Secretary (two terms), National-President Women's Wing and National Executive Member for five terms.

In the 2019 elections, she gained the Amethi constituency by defeating opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, then-president of the Indian National Congress, whose family members had represented the constituency for the previous four decades. She is the only non-Gandhi female politician to have completed five years in Amethi constituency. She subsequently lost the constituency to long time Indian National Congress worker Kishori Lal Sharma in the 2024 elections.

Early and personal life

She was born as Smriti Malhotra, the daughter of a half-Punjabi, half-Marathi Hindu father, Ajay Kumar Malhotra, and a Bengali Hindu mother, Shibani née Bagchi. She is the eldest among three sisters. Her mother was a member of Jana Sangh and her grandfather was associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

She was educated at the Holy Child Auxilium School, New Delhi, which is run by Catholic nuns. Later, she enrolled in School of Open Learning at University of Delhi. In 2019, she revealed that she had written her first year B.Com. exams from that institution, but had not completed the three-year degree course.

In 2001, she married a Parsi businessman, Zubin Irani. In October the same year, the couple had their first child, a son named Zohr. In September 2003, the couple had their second child, a daughter named Zoish. Irani is also a stepmother to Shanelle who is Zubin Irani's daughter from his previous marriage to Mona Irani, a coordinator and former beauty contestant.

In 2018, responding to queries about her faith, she stated that she is a practising Hindu married to a practising Zoroastrian, and that wearing sindoor is her belief as a Hindu.

Career

Often described as the journey of a middle-class woman from ‘bahu’ of Television world, her role as a television actress to becoming the Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Maharashtra Youth Wing, Irani's career spans multiple fields, including her early work as a McDonald's employee, Miss India contestant, model, and television personality, before transitioning into a prominent political leader.

Irani began her career with humble beginnings, working at India’s first McDonald’s outlet. She later participated in the Miss India pageant, where she was a top 10 finalist. Irani subsequently entered the television industry, gaining widespread recognition for her role as ‘Tulsi’ in the popular daily soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, a character that became widely popular across Indian households and neighbouring countries.

Irani started as a BJP karyakarta in 2003, during her television days. Irani has held and served numerous prominent positions, from being elected as Vice-President of the Maharashtra Youth Wing of BJP, Executive Member of the BJP's Central Committee, National Secretary of BJP, All India President of BJP Mahila Morcha, and elected to the Rajya Sabha as a member from Gujarat. She has served as the Minister of Human Resource Development, Minister of Textiles in the Government of India, and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information and Broadcasting. She was also elected to the 17th Lok Sabha and served as Union Cabinet Minister for both the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Acting career

Irani was one of the participants of the beauty pageant Miss India 1998 but couldn't reach the top 9, along with Gauri Pradhan Tejwani. In 1998, Irani appeared in a song "Boliyan" of the album "Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag" with Mika Singh. In 2000, she made her acting début with TV series Aatish and Hum Hain Kal Aaj Aur Kal, both of which aired on Star Plus. Apart from this, she acted in Kavita on DD metro. In 2000, Irani bagged the lead role of Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor's production Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus for which she holds the record of winning five consecutive ITA Award for Best Actress Popular and four Indian Telly Awards. Kyunki.. was the most successful serial at that time, largely attributed to Irani's performance and chemistry with lead actors Amar Upadhyay and Ronit Roy. Irani had a fallout with the producer Ekta Kapoor and she left the show in June 2007 and was replaced by Gautami Kapoor. She made her comeback in May 2008 in a special episode, reconciling with Kapoor. In November 2008, Kyunki came to an end, leading to Irani's decline on TV. Irani's Tulsi avatar became a cultural phenomenon as she was seen as TV's highest paid actress at that time.

In 2002, she played the epic character Sita in Zee TV's Ramayan along with Nitish Bharadwaj In 2006, Irani co-produced the show Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan under her banner Ugraya Entertainment and co-produced by Balaji Telefilms. She also played the lead role of Uma in it. In 2007, she produced the TV serial Virrudh for Sony TV and also portrayed the lead character of Vasudha in it. She produced Mere Apne for 9X and portrayed the protagonist alongside Vinod Khanna. She acted in a supporting role in Zee TV's Teen Bahuraaniyaan.

In 2008, Irani along with Sakshi Tanwar hosted the show Yeh Hai Jalwa, a dance based reality show featuring celebrities along with their troops on 9X. In the same year she produced another show on Zee TV, Waaris which ended in 2009. In 2009, she appeared in a comedy show Maniben.com, aired on SAB TV. She also co-produced the show in collaboration with Contiloe Entertainment. In 2012, she worked in Bengali movie Amrita.

In 2025, Irani returned to screen as her much loved character Tulsi Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 on StarPlus.

The Cultural and Global Impact of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi

From the character ‘Tulsi’, Irani’s name resonated almost with every household and people to could easily connect with the character and the storyline. It was the most popular character in the Television serial. The character ‘Tulsi’ was sensation as was the soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. There have been many records created while this serial was telecasted. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was the first serial in the Television history of India to surpass 1000+ episodes to air. It maintained highest TRP (Target rating point) for consecutive 5 weeks in a row. The show was aired on Star Plus for 8 years and re-release had viewership of 77 million and is a world record in the entertainment industry.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was an Indian drama aired on StarPlus and later in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2010. The show was dubbed into Dari and broadcast on TOLO (TV Channel). It became the most popular television show in Afghan history. It is credited with driving a significant increase in the sales of generator sets and causing absences from religious functions that coincided with its airtime. The show captured the public imagination in Afghanistan to such an extent that, in this deeply conservative Islamic society where family issues are often kept private, it became the dominant topic of discussion around family matters. There were even reports of wedding banquets being interrupted so that guests could gather around the television for a half-hour to watch the show.