From Working for a Food Chain at Rs 1,800 per Month to Being Fired for Having a Baby, Miscarriage and More: When Smriti Irani Got Candid and Made Shocking Revelations

Smriti Irani is set to return to the small screen as Tulsi in the new season of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. The actress-turned-politician has experienced numerous highs and lows in the early days of her career, yet she has managed to become a household name across India. Here’s a look at some lesser-known facts and deeply personal revelations from her life:

Smriti Irani has seen a long journey of struggle and resilience. In an interview with an online portal, she revealed that she once earned ₹1,800 per month while working at a food chain. Washing dishes was part of her job. She shared, “Side mein Hindustan ka pehla McDonald’s hai, uska interview chal raha tha. Toh maine pucha ki kuch agar chal raha hai, I can interview for. Toh unhone kaha ki ek hi position bacha hai, vo entry-level hai, unhone kaha bartan dhone ka kaam hai. That’s how I got my first job.” (Next to us was India’s first McDonald’s, and they were conducting interviews. So I asked if there were any positions available I could apply for. They said there was just one entry-level job left—for dishwashing. That’s how I got my first job.)

In a rare personal revelation, Smriti Irani recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported her during a family crisis. “There was some political controversy going on, and I was the Minister of Education at the time. I was running between Parliament, and in the midst of all that, my son collapsed. He was in 10th standard.
That was my first year as a politician in Delhi. I didn’t know what to do. I rushed to AIIMS. I had a controversy raging, questions to answer in Parliament the next day — my world came crashing down. In that mayhem, the boss called. Can you imagine having that conversation with PM Modi? He told me to calm down and asked, ‘Tell me what you need.’ I ran between the hospital and Parliament, and he kept checking in on me.”

Smriti stunned fans when she recounted a painful memory from her time shooting for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. “I was on the sets of Kyunki and told the team I wasn’t feeling well. At that time, I didn’t know I was pregnant. I was working 18–20 hours a day, so nobody really believed I was unwell. I requested them to take my shots first, but I kept working. By the time I left, it was evening. I called my doctor, and he asked me to get a sonography done. I was in the Four Bungalows market in Mumbai. Zubin was out of the country, and my son Zor was at home. It was raining, and I started bleeding. I asked the auto driver to take me to a local clinic in Lokhandwala.
When I reached, a nurse came running to ask for an autograph. I was bleeding, but I still signed it. Then I asked her, ‘Admit kar loge? I think I’m miscarrying.’”

In a conversation with Neelesh Misra on his podcast, Smriti shared another heart-wrenching experience. “When I told the production team I had miscarried and was still bleeding, they said, ‘Koi nahi, 2 baje ki shift mein aa jaiye’ (No problem, just be there for the 2 p.m. shift).
In the first half of the day, I would shoot for Ravi Chopra’s Ramayan from 7 a.m., and in the second half, for Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi at 2 p.m.”

Smriti also revealed that she had to provide proof of her miscarriage to producer Ekta Kapoor.“Some of my co-stars instigated Ekta against me, so I had to show her my medical documents.
One person even said, ‘Aree iska kya, baccha waccha marta hai toh kya aata hai set par?’ (So what if her baby dies? Why does she have to come to the set?) That person didn’t realize I came back to work because I had responsibilities.
This was in 2001 — I needed money to pay my house EMIs. I completed the shoot that day. The next day, I took all my medical papers to Ekta and said, ‘If you believed even a bit of her, here is the proof.’ She got uncomfortable and told me not to show them. I said, ‘Foetus bacha nahi, warna woh bhi dikha deti’ (If the foetus had survived, I would’ve shown that too).”

In another emotional anecdote, Smriti shared how she was fired from a show after her pregnancy.

“Till the last day of my pregnancy, I was shooting for a show produced by Gautam Adhikari. I used to host it, and we were banking episodes.
I worked till the last day so I could take time off after delivery. But when I came back a month later, they told me, ‘You’re fired.’
The next day, I read in the news that Mita Vashisht had replaced me.
I told them the show wouldn’t work without me — I used to write the episodes. And the show wrapped up quickly after I left.”