Jaya Bachchan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Jaya Bachchan

• Does Jaya Bachchan drink alcohol?: Yes ^[13]Daily Hunt

• Jaya Bachchan is a popular Indian actress and politician.

• Jaya Bachchan was an NCC cadet in her school and was the head of her NCC batch. In 1966, she was awarded the best All India NCC Cadet on the Republic Day celebrations.

• At the age of 15, she started her career as an actor in the Bengali films, out of which one was directed by Satyajit Ray.

  

• After acting in three Bengali films, she joined Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. She is one of the students of FTII who has graduated with a gold medal.

• She has acted in various Bollywood films including Uphaar (1971), Koshish (1972), and Kora Kagaz (1974).

  

• In 1970, Jaya saw Amitabh at FTII, Pune. At that time, Amitabh was a struggling actor while Jaya was already a star.

• Reportedly, Jaya was featured on the cover of a magazine, Amitabh came across this cover and realised that she was the lady of his dreams. Later, Jaya and Amitabh met officially on the sets of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film ‘Guddi’ (1971).

• She acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan as the female lead for the first time in Prakash Verma’s film ‘Bansi Birju’ (1972).

  

• Sharing her first meeting with Amitabh, Jaya said in an interview,

I was introduced to him on the sets of Guddi. I was impressed by him and somewhat in awe as he was Harivanshrai Bachchan’s son. I felt he was different, though people laughed at me when I said that. I expressed my feelings and said he’s going to make it big, even though I was aware he wasn’t the usual stereotype hero. I fell in love with him very soon.”

• As per the sources, the legendary actor Rajesh Khanna, who was a very close friends with Jaya, was not happy with her friendship with Amitabh Bachchan.

• Jaya and Amitabh fell in love while they were shooting for ‘Ek Nazar’ (1972) and got married after the release of Zanjeer (1973). In an interview, Amitabh shared their marriage story, he said,

While shooting for Zanjeer, I promised Jaya that we will go together on a trip abroad if the movie becomes a hit. The movie was a hit. In an attempt to keep the promise, I decided to take Jaya on a trip. This idea was opposed by my father, he was against the idea of Jaya and me making a trip as friends. To keep my promise to Jaya along with making sure I did it with his father’s will, I got married to Jaya.”

• Amitabh met Jaya’s father for the first time in 1972. He reportedly was impressed with Amitabh because of his height and deep voice.

• Some of her movies with her husband are Zanjeer (1973), Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke (1975), Mili (1975), and Sholay (1975).
  

• Jaya was three months pregnant with her first child, Shweta, while she was shooting for the movie ‘Sholay’ (1975).

• Jaya used to call Amitabh ‘Lambuji’ until their daughter, Shweta, started calling him by the same name.

  

• The trouble in their happy married life started within three years of marriage when rumours of Amitabh and Rekha’s affair heated up.

  

• Jaya said in an interview,
  

  I totally trust my husband and I know this industry. I have never been threatened or felt insecure about anything he did. I am associated with a family who believes in having a relationship. You should not be very positive about anything. Especially in this profession, where you know that nothing is easy here. If he really left me and then he never belonged to me.

• Reportedly, she once called Rekha for dinner and said that she would never leave her husband whatever the truth was.

  

• There were rumours that at one point in time, Jaya had stopped Amitabh from working with Rekha in films.

• In 1981, Jaya appeared as the ‘lead actress’ for the last time in the Bollywood film Silsila (1981). It is said that this film is based on the real-life love triangle of Amitabh, Jaya, and Rekha, directed by Yash Chopra.

• After this movie, Jaya took a break of 14 years from the film industry to raise her kids.

• Later, she wrote the story of the superhit Bollywood film Shahenshah (1988), which turned out to be a big hit.

• In 1995, she made a comeback in the Marathi film ‘Akka’ alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

  

• Later, Jaya appeared in many Bollywood and Bengali films including Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham… (2001), Desh (2002), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007). Jaya also appeared in the 2011 Bangladeshi film Meherjaan.
  

• On 16 February 1997, her daughter Shweta Bachchan got married to the businessman Nikhil Nanda, and the couple is blessed with two children, daughter Navya Naveli Nanda and son Agastya Nanda.

  

• On 20 April 2007, Jaya’s son Abhishek Bachchan got married to Aishwarya Rai, and the couple has a daughter Aaradhya Bachchan.

  

• In 2004, Jaya was elected as the Member of Parliament from the ‘Samajwadi Party,’ representing Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha till March 2006. Her second term was from June 2006 till July 2010. In 2012, she was re-elected for the third term, as in 2018, she was elected for the fourth term in the Rajya Sabha.

  

• Jaya Bachchan’s real sister, Rita Bhaduri is married to Rajeev Verma who played the character of Salman Khan’s father in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989).

• In an episode of KBC 11, Amitabh Bachchan revealed that he was attracted to Jaya Bachchan’s long hair.

  

• In another episode of KBC 11, Amitabh revealed that he had saved Jaya’s contact number as ‘JB.’

• Jaya has appeared in various TV commercials along with her husband.

  

• When asked about the Nepotism in Bollywood, she said,

Nepotism charges are not true. My son is still struggling. The first film you can get maybe if you are from the film industry, but lots of sons of lots of film people are still waiting.”

• In an interview, Jaya said that she has to take care of Amitabh just like her child.

  

• In 2012, Jaya moved to tears while she was talking about the Delhi Nirbhaya rape case.

• After submitting her affidavit in the 2018 Rajya Sabha elections, she became one of the richest MPs in India.

• In December 2019, Jaya Bachchan was in news for passing lynching comment on the Hyderabad vet rape-murder case. She said,

People now want the Government to give a definite answer. Such people (the accused in a rape case) need to be brought out in public and lynched.”

• In October 2024, actor Aamir Khan shared Amitabh and Jaya’s marriage invitation card in a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) episode.