Smriti Irani’s blazing rise: From Rs 1800 cleaner salary at McDonalds to Rs 14 lakh per episode on Kyunki reboot

It has been quite the journey for Smriti Irani. What began as working in Rs 1800 a month in McDonalds, is now Rs 14 lakhs per episode on one of the most popular shows in Hindi Primetime.

Irani became the household name as the gentle Tulsi in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi back in the early 2000s. She bounded into ours and clearly Mihir Virani’s (Amar Upadhyay) life with a splash of colour. Over the course of the next eight years, we saw her play ideal ‘bahu’, to mother, grandmother and make some particularly difficult decisions on the show.

So, where did this journey begin?

It began with an astrologer.

As she told Curly Tales, Kyunki didn’t happen because of ‘personality’. She recalled how, during a visit to Ekta Kapoor’s office to sign a small role as someone’s sister, astrologer Janardhan spotted her from afar and predicted she would become a major star. Unbeknownst to her, Ekta was listening behind a curtain, and the moment the astrologer finished, Ekta stepped out to ask what she was signing.

She also added, “I was getting paid around Rs 1200-1300 per day as per the contract. At that time I was doing a cleaner’s job at McDonald’s where I was getting paid Rs 1800 a month. So getting Rs 1200 a day was much better, I had no concrete job then. A 23-year-old earning Rs 1800 a month, there was no option.”

This role didn’t just define her career, it changed the landscape of Indian television. Week after week, audiences wept, raged, and celebrated with Tulsi, catapulting Irani into household-name territory. By the mid-2000s, she had become one of TV’s most bankable actors, a position few could match. But Irani then chose to step into politics, joining the BJP in 2003, eventually rising to become a Union Minister.

And now, almost two decades later, she has returned with the reboot of the serial that made her such a star. In a career twist that feels straight out of a prime-time script, she’s back in the spotlight for her latest revelation: at Rs 14 lakhs per episode as she told CNN-News 18, she’s the highest-paid actor in Indian television today, beating Rupali Ganguli from the highly-successful Anupamaa, who reportedly earns around Rs 3 lakh per episode while Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’s Dilip Joshi (aka Jethalal) is said to earn around Rs 1.5 lakh per episode.

Others in the list of highest-paid TV actors include – Jennifer Winget ( Rs 1.5–2 lakh per episode), Tejasswi Prakash ( Rs 2–3 lakh per episode), Shraddha Arya ( Rs 1.5 lakh per episode), Harshad Chopda ( Rs 3 lakh per episode) and Hina Khan ( Rs 1.5–2 lakh per episode).

Currently, Kyunki reboot has astronomical TRPs. It maintained a leading position with a 2.3 TRP, tying with long-time favourite Anupamaa, and ranked above popular shows like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.