'I knew kids were watching': Smriti Irani on rejecting pan masala ads that offered ‘ten times’ more than what she owed the bank

While the world knows her as the Union cabinet minister today, Smriti Irani was one of the biggest names on Indian television, famous for her role as Tulsi Virani in the show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

Recently, in an interview, the Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs talked of how she was offered pan masala ads during her time as an actor but she made a conscious decision to reject them.

In an interview with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, Smriti Irani recalled her early days. “I remember when I began my journey, I had absolutely zero money. I was newly married and I didn’t even have Rs 20-30 thousand in my bank account and I had borrowed money from a bank to buy a home. It doesn’t sound very flashy right now but it was around Rs 25-27 lakh and I remember I could just scrape by to make the down payment for the house.”

She further revealed at that time, she was offered to do a pan masala ad, however, the offer was turned down by her.

“I remember somebody walking on to my set one day and offering me an ad for pan masala and that money was exactly ten times the amount I owed the bank. I refused the ad and people looked at me as though I had gone absolutely crazy, they were like, ‘you’re mad, you need the money’.”

Explaining her decision, she added, “I knew that there were families watching, youngsters watching, and I was like can you imagine there is somebody making them feel that you are a part of the family and you’re suddenly selling pan masala. So, I said no conscientiously. I said no to all those waters, flavoured waters sold by alcohol companies. There have been conscientious decisions about my media journey and that was because I knew kids were watching.”

“It is nice to be counted as a family by so many people,” she said about the popularity of her character in the show.

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