Smriti Irani Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography

Smriti Irani is an actress-turned-politician, who is  Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi Constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha term (2019-2024).

Wiki/Biography

Smriti Irani was born as ‘Smriti Malhotra’ on 23 March 1976 (age 43 years; as in 2019) in New Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Aries.

She did her schooling from Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi. She is a 12th pass. She enrolled for Bachelors of Commerce from School of Open Learning, Delhi University but did not complete her three-year degree course.

Physical Appearance

Height: 5′ 7″

Weight: 80 kg

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Black

Family, Caste & Husband

She was born to a Punjabi-Maharashtrian father, Ajay Kumar Malhotra and Bengali-Assamese mother, Shibani Bagchi (ex-member of Jana Sangha, the right wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS)).

She has two younger sisters. She got married to Zubin Irani, a Parsi businessman. The couple has a son named Zohr Irani and a daughter named Zoish Irani.

She also has a step-daughter named Shanelle Irani, who is Zubin’s daughter from his first marriage with former beauty contestant, Mona Irani.

Political Career

Smriti Irani joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2003.

In 2004 Lok Sabha Elections, she contested against Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk Constituency in Delhi and lost. In the same year, she became the President of Maharashtra Youth Wing of BJP. She was also nominated as the executive member of the central committee of BJP. In 2009, she campaigned for Vijay Goel’s candidature in New Delhi. In 2010, she was appointed as the National Secretary of BJP and was appointed as the President of the Mahila Morcha (women wing) of BJP.  In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, she contested against Rahul Gandhi in the Amethi Constituency and lost by 1,07,923 votes. Nevertheless, Narendra Modi appointed her as the Human Resource Development in his cabinet, making her the youngest cabinet minister of that time.

In a cabinet reshuffle in 2016, she was switched from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Textiles. In 2017, she was handed in the additional charge of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which was taken away from her in 2018 and was given to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. In 2019, she contested the Lok Sabha Elections from the Amethi Constituency against Rahul Gandhi and won by a margin of 55,120 votes.

Career-TV, Films & Theatre

In Television

She was one of the contestants of Miss India Beauty Paegent in 1998, who couldn’t reach the top 9.

In 1998, she made her first appearance in the song “Boliyan” of the album “Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag” with Mika Singh. In 2000, she made her Television debut as an actress with the show “Aatish” and “Hum Hain Kal Aaj Aur Kal,” which aired on Star Plus. In the mid-2000s, she became a household name when she played the role of ‘Tulsi Virani’ in Ekta Kapoor’s production “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000-2008).” The serial ran for eight years, and Smriti became the most loved Bahu.

In 2007, she made her debut as a TV producer with the TV serial, “Virrudh” for Sony TV.

She hosted a TV show, “Yeh Hai Jalwa,” a dance reality show which aired on 9x in 2008.

In Films

In 2010, she made her Hindi film debut with the film “Malik Ek.”

In 2011, she made her Telugu debut with the movie “Jai Bolo Telangana.”

She made her Bengali film debut with the movie “Amrita” in 2012.

In Theatres

She has done various theatre projects; the first one being a Hindi play, “Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein.” She then did her first Gujarati play titled, “Maniben.com.” She also did a Telugu play named “Jai Bolo Telangana.”

Controversies

• She was accused of providing contradictory affidavits regarding her educational qualifications. In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, she claimed to have a degree in BA (Bachelors of Arts) and in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, she claimed to have a degree in Commerce (B. Com). It was later clarified that she had done part 1 of her Bachelors in Commerce and did not complete her three-year degree course.

• She was once criticised for not taking proper actions in the suicidal case of a Dalit Student, Rohit Vermula of Hyderabad University.

• She was criticised by several Vice-chancellors of universities for sacking two vice-chancellors, during her tenure as HRD Minister.

• In 2014, there was a massive uproar after she declared to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in Kendriya Vidhyalayas.

• In 2017, IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) were at the strong disagreement over Smriti’s decision when she cleared the clause that included IIMs under the ambit of her Ministry.

• A lot of bureaucrats left her ministry, quoting her ministry as the high-handed way of functioning.

Address

A-602, Neptune Apartments,

Swami Samarth Nagar 4th cross lane,

Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri West, Mumbai 400053

Awards

Indian Television Academy Awards

• Won 4 ITA for Best Actress-Drama (Popular) for the TV serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005 consecutively

• Best Actress (Popular) for the TV serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2004

• ITA Milestone Award for the TV serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2010

Indian Telly Awards

• Won 3 Awards for Best Actress (Popular) for the TV serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2002, 2003 & 2004 consecutively

• Best TV Personality for the TV serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2003

• Best Actress (Jury) for Virrudh in 2007

Favourite Things

• Food: Gujarati Cuisine, Pizza, Chocolate

• Cartoon Show: Tom & Jerry

• Film: Mr. India (1987), Avenger Series

• Film Director: Shekhar Kapur

Assets/Properties

She has around Rs. 3.83 crores of movable and Rs. 7.28 crores of immovable assets.

Salary/Net Worth

Smriti Irani’s salary as a Member of Parliament is Rs. 1 lakh with other allowances (as in 2019). Her net worth is approximately 11.11 crores (as in 2019).

Facts

• Smriti Irani’s grandfather was an RSS Swayamsevak.

• In Delhi, while Smriti was still a schoolgirl, her parents had invited an astrologer to predict the future of their three daughters. The astrologer said that while their two younger daughters would do all right, “Badi Ladki Ka Kuchh Nahi Hoga (nothing would happen of your elder daughter).”

• She, in an interview, revealed that even her parents had no big dreams for her and wished for her to get married to a good boy.

• Growing up, she wanted to become either a civil servant or a journalist. But her father disapproved her of it as he thought that neither of the professions suited her.

  Smriti Irani In Her School Days

• Subsequently, she packed her bags for Mumbai and participated in Femina Miss India Beauty contest in 1998, but she couldn’t reach the top 9. The winner of the contest that year was Lymaraina D’ Souza.

• In the early days of her career, she even worked at McDonald’s in Bandra, Mumbai as a waitress. On her job at McDonald’s, Smriti says,
  

  All I wanted at that point was to graduate to the next level where I would be the one standing and welcoming guests to McDonald’s. That meant more money.”

• Smriti was first spotted by the TV producer Shobha Kapoor (Ekta Kapoor’s mother) when she was working with the producer of the show called “Bakeman’s Ooh La La.”

• Smriti says that she never saw any single episode of her super-hit serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.”

• Before her TV assignments, she had also done various modelling assignments.

• Reportedly, she and Ekta Kapoor grew certain differences, and she left the show “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” in 2007. However, she made a comeback in a special episode on the show in 2008.

  Smriti Irani And Ekta Kapoor

• She also played the role of ‘Goddess Sita’ in Zee TV’s Ramayana in 2001.

  Smriti Irani In Ramayana

• In 2003, while “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” was still at its peak, Smriti Irani joined BJP, as BJP was looking for a high-profile show-biz star in their party.

• She also has been BJP’s most visible faces in Media Interactions.

• She is fluent in five languages, i.e., Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali.

• During her campaigns for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi Constituency, a fire broke out in a village in Amethi. Smriti helped the locals to douse the fire.