They are saas and bahu on stage too, but far removed from the soppy soap that has catapulted them to stardom. With screen mother-in-law Apara Mehta by her side, Smriti Irani, better still Tulsi Virani, makes her stage debut with Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein, a Hindi adaptation of a popular Gujarati play.

Directed by Tushar Joshi, the play features Apara as a mother-in-law who has sacrificed a promising painting career for family life, while Smriti is her career-minded NRI daughter-in-law. A conflict of views causes a split between the father and son, but the two women remain best of friends.

And unlike her screen persona, Smriti pushes her mother-in-law to step out of domestic confines and make a mark in her chosen field. ?This is more than saas-bahu, it?s about a woman finding her own identity. It?s a play for all those who care about their family,? Smriti tells Metro.

?I always wanted to do roles that I am not known for to start my stint in theatre. And since my pairing with Apara Mehta is known to all, people thought there was going to be a lot of crying, but they ended up laughing so much. The play also marks my initiation as co-producer. So, I am excited on both counts.?

Though the play is her first live act, Smriti feels doing theatre is ?much more challenging? than playing the popular bahu on telly. ?You get instant reaction, you get to hear straight from the audience. And no, I didn?t get butterflies in my stomach just because I was performing in front of a live audience. The challenge was more to match up with the other veteran theatre actors.? She was quite keen to have Apara, a veteran in Gujarati theatre, by her side on stage.

?Hindi theatre is almost non-existent in Mumbai; it?s for Gujarati and Marathi theatre that people come to the box-office to buy tickets in advance. Even the young generation comes to watch plays. In Gujarati theatre, serious things are told with a bit of laughter and that?s what we are doing here too. I want to adapt good Gujarati plays into Hindi so that I can reach out to a wider audience. Theatre should be an alternative to films and television,? says Apara, who feels Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein is very ?contemporary? as it talks about ?how a woman strikes the perfect balance between her career and home?.

The Hindi play has been penned by Prakash Kakaria, the man who scripted Devdas and Black. Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein has travelled to Dubai, Delhi, Hyderabad, London, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad. It will be presented by Anamika Kala Sangam at Kala Mandir on September 19.