The big soap bubble is ready to burst on Indian Television. Time has come for the 8-year-old Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, (KSBKBT) with it’s immortal characters (well, they just refused to die and saw five generations), kilos of jewellery, shimmering silks, naach-gaana, rona-dhona and the regressive approach to women, to finally reach its last chapter by end October.

Many claim that KSBKBT is reaching a natural end (phew!) but it’s actually the TV channel (please read Star Plus) which has decided to end the contract with producers Balaji Telefilms. There was a time when this very regressive Balaji soap was responsible for the increasing TRPs of the channel, but now Star wants to reinvent itself. The last two years have seen quite a downfall in its popularity.

Let’s check out the grand KSKBT journey

Circa 2000, KSKBT recieves a warm welcome from the homemakers across India. For the first time, someone thought of their entertainment and that too at hours when all their household chores were done with. And it actually was appreciated with its larger than life yet enjoyable portrayal of domestic drama. However, the show soon went out of control when the main character Tulsi became nothing but a sob queen with ‘I am the best bahu and everyone else is wrong’ approach. The glitz too went over board.

Soon, Tulsi’s husband Mihir died. The entire India (the woman part of it) was upset. There were tears and protests and the real-life drama managed to bring Mihir back to life.

I think it was somewhere in 2006 that a woman died while watching KSBKBT. She was so enmeshed with the emotions of the characters that it became too hard for her to handle. A very sorry death.

KSBKBT got itself a strong fan following in Afghanistan.

Smriti Irani who played the character of Tulsi quit late 2007 owing to a tiff with producer Ekta Kapoor. She was back in April 2008 amidst a lot of media hype. Some thought the excitement was over-exaggerated since the show is no longer popular. Women are tired of seeing themselves being represented with either extreme pativrata-ness or wickedness. Realism was so easily tossed out of the window.

Finally, it’s time to say adieu to KSBKBT. Wonder why no one’s crying in the audience because Tulsi sure is!