Smriti Irani recalls returning to Balaji set two days after giving birth because she had ‘no money’: ‘My bones hurt till this day’

Smriti said that people only see the ‘razzmatazz’ and the ‘power’ associated with playing Tulsi on TV, but they don’t know the hardships that she experienced. “I have been at a place where I had 200 bucks in my pocket. I have walked from Mahalaxmi station to Famous studio in absolute fever, only to be told how horrid an actor I was, and gone back home and wondered the next day, if I don’t get a job, I’m done, what will I do?”

She said that she still remembers that ‘fear and humiliation’, and that it is important to, because it keeps her grounded. “It teaches you what your value is as just you. It’s nothing. I remember when I had my first child. I had to go back to work, two days after giving birth, because I had no money. The old Balaji office was on a broken road. My cameraman and my makeup artist used to come in cars, I used to come in an auto. And they used to be scared. They’d say, ‘Ma’am, you’re pregnant heavily, you’ll fall, something will happen’.”

She had the baby, and two days later, she was back at work, she said. “You’re alone, because your husband has found a job overseas. You’re 24-25 years old. You manage the baby, you manage your job, you break your bones. My bones hurt till this day because I’ve been working like that. No matter what I become in life, I’ll know what it’s like to be alone. The baby was two days old, I’ll never forget that,” she said.

In an earlier interview with Neelesh Misra, Smriti had recalled being called into work by Balaji a day after miscarrying. “I said, ‘I told you I am not well, I just had a miscarriage’ The person replied, ‘Koi nahi, 2 baje ki shift mein aa jaiye’ (No problem, come for the 2 pm shift),” she remembered.