Kyunki Saans bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi….R.I.P.

It had to end. The serial, on for about 8.5 years had to end. With all the leaps and the TRPs falling, STAR decided to put an end to a serial which gave STAR Plus its image.

The story focuses on the wealthy, stinking rich Virani family, which hails from Gujarat (Jai Sri Krishna people). The Viranis are quite successful and well-known in the corporate world, always signing business deals and appearing on the front page of newspapers. The story is mainly focused on Tulsi Virani, daughter of the family priest, who elopes with the family’s eldest son, Mihir. The entire family except Govardhan Virani (the patriach-BAAPUJI) and Amba Virani (the matriarch- BAA) (played by Sudha Shivpuri) are against it. Due to anger, the daughters-in-law of the family, Savita (Dead), Daksha (Evicted from Bigg Boss) and Gayatri (Disappeared into thin air) blame Tulsi for charming Mihir into marrying her and entering their rich household from a smaller, middle-class family and harrass her in all respects. However, due to respect and belief in God Shri Shrinathji, called Thakurji, a form of Lord Krishna, Tulsi fights the injustice and battles her mother-in-law and devranis). The entire serial focuses on the battle between the mothers-in-law and Tulsi and in the process teaching them a lesson and earning respect from her family members. Tulsi maata acts as the sole protector, saviour, guardian angel et al.

The serial started on 3rd July 2000 and ends today, on 6th November 2008. Baa has just died on Tuesday and there, a five year leap on Wednesday. No last rites, nothing. Tulsi becomes the new Baa.

Earlier the serial appealed to the masses, with the saans bahu sagas, but soon the story lost its plot. On careful calculations, there are a total of ‘5′ generations of Viranis living in one house. This has been quite chaotic and made life tough identifying the people in the house.

The tracks have changed quite repeatedly with the introduction of the so-called ‘vamps’ in the form of Payal, Anupam Kapadia, Meera, Mandira, Gujrals et al. They had little impact on the story as all of them followed more or less the same storyline.

Ekkta Kapoor tried a lot to keep the serial in the news. With the killing of Ansh Gujral by Tulsi, she gained quite a lot of TRPs for KSBKBT. She also had crossovers with other serials like Kayamath and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii. She also *revived* Baa on public demand.

The last bit I liked was the introduction of beefy Tripti. She’s fat, obnoxious, over imposing and has her way in the house bringing the Virani family to the roads. Then Viranis come back and take over the house. The newer plot showed Shiv Singhania running after Ganga, who is the wife of Sahil (confusing…).

After getting rid of Shiv, Ekkta lost the case in the Bombay High Court regarding the continuation of KSBKBT. So she was told to wrap up the show in a week’s time. So she started by diverting Baa to think about her past and how she missed Baapuji (she’s 400 years old). So she eventually dies putting her gramophone on while the house members enjoy a party. Thenafter is a 5 year leap where Tulsi is the new Baa and ends the serial on a philosophical note.

The serial started fine but like all ‘K’ serials, it diverted from its plot and soon had no story. Serials like Baalika Vadhu took over the TRPs and soon KSBKBT lost its audience and had to make way for new serials. Ekkta managed to complete almost 1850 episodes of this serial.

So, that’s the end of one of my personal favourites. Not that I regret the High Court’s decision nor am I emotional. Its just that I can now watch Bigg Boss in its final week since it clashed with KSBKBT!

All’s well that ends well!