War of the Tulsis...

There goes another myth about television. One always thought iconic figures on television were irreplaceable in audience's minds.

Going by that premise, one presumed Tulsi on Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was Smriti Irani, and vice-versa.

When Smriti, who's synonymous with Tulsi, decided to leave Kyunkii... to pursue a career outside Balaji Telefilms as a software producer and an actress, it was said that her the serial's fortunes would plummet drastically. To everyone's surprise Gautami Gadgil who replaced Smriti as Tulsi managed quite well.

Later, when Smriti agreed to return as Tulsi, there was a note of caution rather than jubilation at Balaji. "Why rock the boat when it was sailing smoothly? We all thought Gautami was doing fine," says a source. "However because Smriti was the original Tulsi, we welcomed her back."

Now, however, Smriti's return and Gautami Gadgil's gradual withdrawal from the plot has been a bit of a downer for the show's TRPs.

"The TRPs were definitely higher when Gautami was Tulsi. Viewers just don't seem to be responding to Smriti as Tulsi anymore. Whenever the plot veers towards her character, the TRPs dip. This has come as a shock to us. The most popular characters in Kyunkii... are Karan and Nandini, played by Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan. People love their love story. The other two characters who seem to bring in the TRPs are Tripti and Ganga. Obviously, the younger characters are more popular. As for Tulsi, Gautami's role definitely showed better TRPs than Smriti's," says the source.

The channel has taken a serious view of viewers' preference. According to sources, the channel has spoken to Ekta Kapoor and urged her to bring Gautami back. Though at this stage of the soap's progression, Balaji is reluctant to make drastic changes in the plot, the return of Gautami Gadgil seems quite probable.
"We're considering the possibility of bringing Gautami back as Tulsi," says the source. Smriti was unavailable for comment.