New Delhi: Tulsi Virani was never just a bahu. For millions of Indians, she became the blueprint for the ideal woman in the ideal family. Now, nearly 20 years later, Tulsi and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi are returning to TV. Nostalgia for sanskaari family values was always part of the appeal, but so was its packaging of modern life. What remains to be seen is whether the makers thought an update was needed.
“The show was both regressive and progressive,” said film critic Bhawana Somaaya, who worked with producer Ekta Kapoor as a creative consultant for a year on Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (KSBKBT). “It found mass appeal by marrying traditional values with emotional drama.”
Last week, the release of the first look of Smriti Irani reprising her iconic role as Tulsi Virani led to a flurry of anticipation on social media. The general sentiment was that the good old days of soap operas were back. Set to premiere on Star Plus on 29 July at 10:30 pm, the cast includes familiar faces like Amar Upadhyay, Hiten Tejwani, and Gauri Pradhan.
Originally aired from 2000 to 2008, with over 1,800 episodes, KSBKBT earned a massive fan following and was widely celebrated for bringing the Indian joint family dynamic to mainstream television.
Yet beneath the surface of its widespread popularity lay a more complex, and at times troubling, cultural narrative. And it represented a move away from earlier, more progressive portrayals of women, according to Professor Shoma Munshi, author of Prime Time Soap Operas on Indian Television, which explores how these shows became cultural flagships.
“The family image KSBKBT built was one of an idealised Hindu business joint family, as was typical in shows of that era like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii,” said Munshi. She contrasted this with earlier Doordarshan-era heroines like those in Tara or Udaan, who were far more career-oriented and progressive.
“These were the first prime-time soaps targeting a broader audience. Visual appeal and melodrama were key, and while the shows touched on real-life issues, their portrayals were highly dramatised and far from realistic,” she added.
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Ideal family or regressive fantasy?
Rather than being a reflection of Indian society, KSBKBT projected a sanitised and idealised fantasy of family life, said scriptwriter Sweksha Bhagat, known for shows like Kaatelal & Sons, Peshwa Bajirao, and Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala.
“Before Kyunki, Indian TV was dominated by comedies like Hum Paanch, thrillers like Byomkesh Bakshi, or modern dramas like Shanti and Tara. This was post-liberalisation India, where families were turning nuclear and global aspirations were rising,” she added.
In this evolving cultural climate, Bhagat argued, Ekta Kapoor identified a nostalgic gap and built an empire on it. Kyunki didn’t just become a television phenomenon. It redefined the ideal Indian woman.
“Suddenly, the independent, career-minded woman like Shanti was replaced by the morally upright, ever-sacrificing Tulsi, who lived solely for her family,” she observed.
But not everyone sees that change as problematic. Writer Shabia Walia calls Kyunki “pretty realistic” because joint families have long been part of Indian society, even if they were becoming increasingly uncommon.
“It propagated the joint family culture where there were more than 15-20 people living in the same house,” said Walia, whose credits include Pushpa Impossible, Uff Yeh Love Hai Mushkil, and First Copy on Amazon MX Player. “Coming from a very, very small nuclear family, I always dreamt of a family like that. So in a way, it was very aspirational for me.”
For Walia, the show captured how a daughter-in-law, initially a stranger, slowly becomes the emotional centre of the household through her values and warmth.
“It explored the evolving dynamics as daughters-in-law eventually become mothers-in-law, mirroring generational shifts. For many viewers, Tulsi embodied the ideal, someone who held the family together, just as parents often hope their children will,” she said.
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‘Messages seeped into subconscious’
While the show was hailed as a “family drama”, it offered a version of domestic life where women’s roles were tightly defined. Issues were resolved through hyper-melodrama, dissent was discouraged, and tradition was romanticised at the cost of progress.
The ideal woman was one who cooked, prayed, bore children, cared for elders, and made endless sacrifices. Her intelligence, if acknowledged, was to be used in service of the family, never for self-fulfillment.
“You make it tradition-bound and then elevate the protagonist into a hero,” said Somaaya.
It created a new cultural pressure. Walia, who was 25 when the show started airing, admits it had a significant impact on generational dynamics.
“I was not even an active viewer, yet the messages from the show seeped into my subconscious. Tulsi, in particular, became a kind of role model. She was respectful to her elders, loving towards the younger family members, and always attentive to the needs of those around her. But what stood out most was that, despite embodying traditional values, she still had a voice and a clear point of view.”
Walia added that, deep down, she “wanted to be like Tulsi”—not necessarily a daughter-in-law, but someone who could win people over, be loved, and express her thoughts without being harsh, rebellious, or aggressive.
Still, the show’s portrayal of powerful matriarchs was not necessarily empowering. It reinforced patriarchal structures in the household. These women upheld family honour by enforcing strict codes of behaviour, particularly for daughters-in-law, while flawed male characters were rarely held accountable.
Munshi acknowledged that Kyunki did contain progressive elements, but they were carefully woven into a traditional framework to appeal to a broad family audience. This, however, was an era when most households had just one television and mobile phones were still not common.
“In today’s rapidly evolving world—shaped by technology, fragmented viewing habits, and the abundance of OTT platforms—it will be fascinating to see how KSBKBT takes shape,” she said. “Let’s not forget, Kyunki came before the smartphone era.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)