Veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan have been married for 52 years. Jaya and Big B first met on the sets of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi, and while Jaya was immediately in awe of Big B, the Don star fell in love with Jaya on the sets of Ek Nazar (1972). They tied the knot in 1973.
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In an old interview, Jaya had said, “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 fell in love with him very soon.”
Speaking to Stardust magazine in an old interview, Amitabh Bachchan talked about his marriage with Jaya Bachchan and how, because both of them belonged to the film fraternity and were actors, it helped them understand each other better.
He called himself “fortunate” for being married to Jaya. The actor said, “Jaya is a very spontaneous person. Not at all like me. And it’s just very fortunate for me that she’s from the same profession as me and so she understands. She was always familiar with the environment I was in. She knows what the film industry is all about, so in fact, it’s a boon to have her.”
Amitabh said that, contrary to the belief that marriages in the film industry don’t last, his marriage with Jaya was for life. “I don’t know of course what the situation would have been had I married a lady outside my profession. You say that marriages in this industry don’t last. But with all due apologies and all due respect to others, how do you put me in the same category?” he said.
Amitabh Bachchan called Jaya Bachchan “embarrassingly straight” and shared how he has never asked her to be anything else but that. “In any marriage, there are ups and downs and areas where disagreements take place, but that’s all part of it. Jaya is extremely open and very straight. Sometimes embarrassingly straight but that’s how her nature is. I’ve never tried to disturb that quality of hers and she’s not disturbed my quality of being to myself. When I want to be left alone, she leaves me alone. It’s very similar to the relationship between my parents.”
When Amitabh and Jaya tied the knot, the Uphaar actor was already a well-known name in the industry, while Amitabh was still finding his footing. During the interaction, Big B emphasised that he doesn’t like the exchange of expensive gifts and extravagant outings — and Jaya Bachchan shares the same outlook towards life. “I’m sure that had I not been married to her and had I still had the kind of success that came my way, I would have still not encouraged a situation where expensive gifts, expensive outings were going to be the criterion for my association with a woman. I appreciate a more normal and simple relationship. That is what attracted me to Jaya. She’s very simple and very down-to-earth. Away from all this,” he said.
