'He is a different personality, maybe that’s why I married him.'
Jaya Bachchan gave everyone fresh insights into her life and marriage at Barkha Dutt's #WeTheWomen event, held in Mumbai on November 30.
She revealed that she did not fall in love with Amitabh Bachchan for the reasons most young women of the 1970s did.
It wasn’t his towering persona, the rising stardom, or the cinematic intensity that drew her in.
It was something far quieter: his steadiness and discipline.
'He is a different personality, maybe that’s why I married him,' Jaya reflected.
'Can you imagine if I married somebody like me? He would be in Vrindavan and I would be somewhere else!'
When she was asked what she liked most about her husband, Jaya said without hesitation: 'His discipline.'
It is a trait, she believes, that has kept him grounded through the highs and lows of global fame.
The couple married on June 3, 1973, in Mumbai, just as Amitabh Bachchan’s career was exploding after the success of Zanjeer.
Jaya Bhaduri was at the height of her own acting journey then.
Their partnership, which began on film sets, blossomed beyond and has now endured for 52 years.
What's the one thing she dislikes about Amitabh Bachchan?
'He does not speak. He is not free with his opinion like I am,' she replied.
'He conveys what he wants and conveys it at the right time in the right way, which I don’t know to do.'
Jaya also spoke of herself as a parent to Shweta, born in 1974, and Abhishek, born in 1976, and admitted that she was the stricter parent.
'My kids were scared of me,' she said, recalling a home where discipline was non-negotiable.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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