That opening song is unmistakable. Between 2000 and 2008, it would play at almost every home as families sat down post-dinner to watch the latest episode of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Will families tune in with the same enthusiasm as Ektaa R Kapoor’s show returns with a new season, 17 years after it went off air? Amar Upadhyay aka Mihir Virani hopes so. The actor began shooting for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 at Film City, Goregaon, on June 18.

Being offered the reboot felt surreal, he says. “In April, Tanusri [Dasgupta, Executive Vice President, Balaji Telefilms] called to say that Kyunki 2 was [in the works] and Ektaa wanted me to play Mihir. I said I’d love to play him again as it changed my life,” Upadhyay recalls.

Of course, Kyunki… would’ve been incomplete without Smriti Irani aka Tulsi Virani. She was the first to be roped in for the show. “Tanu said this season is Mihir and Tulsi’s story, and I said I’m on. I didn’t listen to my role; I just said yes. I trust Ektaa and her judgment,” Upadhyay adds.

The two co-stars, who built successful careers after the TV show, met at Kapoor’s birthday party earlier this month.

Upadhyay says, “Smriti and I have been in touch over the years. The day after the party, we had a narration where Ektaa narrated the entire story. Before she came in, Kamalika [Guha Thakurta], Shakti Anand, Smriti, and I were talking and laughing; we picked up where we had all left so many years ago.”

Will the show carry forward the Virani family’s story, with Mihir and Tulsi having matured as characters? “Of course,” he says, before adding, “TV content and audiences have changed. Kyunki… was different when it was first launched, and today it will be different too. We’re making it keeping Gen Z in mind. They have heard about the show from their parents. From teenagers to senior citizens, there is excitement across age groups for the show.”