A few weeks ago, we discussed why producers and showrunners bet so much on nostalgia. Lo and behold, we now have proof. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi reboot has managed to rack up over 1.659 billion total TV and streaming watch minutes during its launch week.
Within four days, 31.1 million people viewed the show on TV, including 15.4 million who watched the premiere alone, making it the highest-rated fiction launch of a general entertainment channel in recent memory.
But this revival was much, much more than numbers. It was a grand return, especially with Smriti Irani coming back to her iconic role of Tulsi Virani after a remarkable 25 years. Her reentry triggered waves of nostalgia. Industry eyes were abuzz with comparisons to the original TRP records trembled by the 2000 launch, a time when Tulsi’s return once sparked city-wide celebrations.
What set this reboot apart, though, wasn’t just its iconic characters or emotional undercurrent. It marked the rare sweet spot where nostalgia met nuance. While the program retained its core pillars of family drama, tradition and emotion, it approached its content as a limited series; a perfect structure for today’s binge-model of consumption.
In a fractured media ecosystem, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi proved that nostalgia is still a powerful layer of your narrative. More than a comeback, this was a cultural moment, and the launch at scale is proof that in India, powered narratives still reign supreme.