Jaya Bachchan

Jaya Bachchan
Born Jaya Bhaduri
April 9, 1948 (1948-04-09) (age 63)
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
Occupation Actress, Politician
Years active 1963, 1971–1981, 1998–present
Spouse Amitabh Bachchan (1973–present)
Children Abhishek Bachchan
Shweta Nanda
Signature

Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan (Bengali: জয়া ভাদুড়ী বচ্চন, Hindi: जया बच्चन; born Jaya Bhaduri on 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Bachchan is the wife of Amitabh Bachchan, and is the mother of Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. Bachchan is recognised as one of the finest Hindi film actresses of her time, particularly known for reinforcing a naturalistic style of acting in both mainstream and 'middle-of-the-road' cinema.[1][2]

Making her film debut as a teenager in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar (1963), Bachchan's first screen role as an adult was in Guddi (1971), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, with whom she would collaborate in several films. She was noted for her performances in films including Uphaar (1971), Koshish (1972), Kora Kagaz (1974), among others.She appeared alongside her husband Amitabh Bachchan in films such as Zanjeer (1973), Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke (1975), Mili (1975) and Sholay (1975).

Following her marriage and the birth of her children, Bachchan restricted her film work in the coming years and after her appearance in the 1981 film Silsila, she took an indefinite sabbatical from films. She returned to acting with Govind Nihlani's Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa in 1998. Since then, she has appeared in such films as Fiza (2000), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), which garnered her several awards and nominations.

During her career, she has won six competitive Filmfare Awards: three for Best Actress and three for Best Supporting Actress, which makes her the overall most-awarded performer in the female acting categories, along with Nutan. She was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

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Early life

Jaya Bhaduri was born in a Hindu Bengali family to Indira and Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, writer, journalist and stage artist in Jabalpur. She studied in St. Joseph's Convent School, Bhopal. She was awarded the Best All-India N.C.C. Cadet Award, during the Republic Day celebrations in 1966.[3] She later studied at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, completing her graduation there as a gold medalist.

Career

She started her career with a supporting role in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film, Mahanagar at the age of 15, with Anil Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee. Prior to this, she had appeared in two Bengali films: a 13-minute short film, Suman,[4] and a Bengali comedy Dhanni Meye (1971), as Uttam Kumar's sister-in law.[5]

Inspired by her experience with Ray, she decided to join Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune to learn acting, and passed out with the gold medal,[6] and she was also picked out to play the eponymous role of Guddi in the 1971 Hrishikesh Mukherjee film, Guddi in which she played a schoolgirl obsessed with film star Dharmendra.[7] Guddi was a success,[5] and she moved to Bombay and soon picked other roles, however her role of a 14 year-old school girl, aided by her petite looks, created the girl-next-door image for her, which she was often associated with through the rest of her career. Though she tried to break out of the mould with glamourous roles as in Jawani Diwani (1972)[1] and a negative character of the heroine faking amnesia, in Anamika (1973), she was mostly recognised for roles of this sort, which were credited with epitomising middle-class sensibility and which she played amiably in films of "middle-cinema" directors like Gulzar, Basu Chatterjee and indeed Hrishikesh Mukherjee.[8] These films include Uphaar (1971), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Parichay (1972), Koshish (1972) and Bawarchi (1972), with marked sensitivity.[7][9] By now, she was a popular star.[5]

In Gulzar's Koshish (1973), Bhaduri and Sanjeev Kumar played a deaf couple who struggle through their difficulties as handicapped people. She described the film as a "a learning experience" which motivated to do social work in future.[10]

She first acted with her future husband Amitabh Bachchan in the film, Bansi Birju (1972), followed by B.R. Ishara's Ek Nazar also in the same year.[5] Amitabh had undergone a string of flops, and when most lead heroines refused to work him, in Salim-Javed scripted, Zanjeer (1973), she stepped into the film. The film turned out to be blockbuster and gave rise to Amitabh Bachchan's angry-young-man image.[11] This was closely followed by their pairing in films like Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke (1975) and Sholay (1975).

Her daughter Shweta was born while Jaya and Amitabh were working on Sholay. Following this she retired from films and focused on raising her children. Her last film as a lead actress was Silsila (1981), opposite her husband. During the late 1980s she wrote the story for the film Shahenshah which starred her husband in the lead.

After a gap of film appearances for 18 years, she returned to acting with Govind Nihalani's Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998), a film about the Naxalite movement. In 2000 she starred in Fiza for which she received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her work. She also starred in Karan Johar's family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) with her husband. She then starred in Karan Johar's next film, Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). She played the role of Preity Zinta's mother, Jennifer, for which she again received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.[12]

In 2007 Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, she appeared with son Abhishek Bachchan.

As of January 2011, she is set to appear in a Bangladeshi film titled Meherjaan starring with Victor Banerjee and Humayun Faridi. The film is based on a Bangaladesh-Pakistan love story in the backdrop of 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. Its a story of Meherjaan (played by Jaya Bachchan), a Bangladeshi girl who falls in love with a young Pakistani army officer who refuses to join the war and saves her from being raped by other Pakistani troops who do not however spare her cousin Neela and kill her father.[13]

Political career

Bachchan was elected as a Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament, representing Rajya Sabha, and in February 2010 she stated her intent to complete her term.[14]

Personal life

On 3 June 1973, she married actor Amitabh Bachchan. The couple have two children: Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor. Shweta is married to industrialist Nikhil Nanda in Delhi, and has two children, Navya Naveli and Agastya Nanda,[15] while Abhishek Bachchan is married to Aishwarya Rai, also an actor who recently gave birth to a baby girl.[16]

Awards and recognition

Filmfare Awards

Winner

Nominated

International Indian Film Academy Awards

Winner

Other film awards

Winner

Honours and recognitions

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1963 Mahanagar Bani Bengali film
1971 Guddi Kusum/Guddi Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1971 Dhanni Meye Monasha Bengali film
1971 Uphaar Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1972 Jawani Diwani Neeta Thakur
1972 Bawarchi Krishna Sharma
1972 Parichay Rama
1972 Bansi Birju Bansi
1972 Piya Ka Ghar Malti
1972 Annadata
1972 Ek Nazar Shabnam
1972 Samadhi
1972 Koshish Aarti Mathur Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1972 Shor Raat Ki Rani/Rani
1972 Jai Jawan Jai Makan
1973 Gaai Aur Gori Neeta Thakur
1973 Anamika Anamika/Kanchan/Archana
1973 Phagun Krishna Sharma
1973 Zanjeer Mala
1973 Abhimaan Uma Kumar Filmfare Best Actress Award
1974 Aahat
1974 Dil Diwana
1974 Kora Kagaz Archana Gupta Filmfare Best Actress Award
1974 Naya Din Nai Raat
1974 Doosri Sita
1975 Mili Mili Khanna Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1975 Chupke Chupke Vasudha Kumar
1975 Sholay Radha
1977 Abhi To Jee Lein Jaya
1978 Ek Baap Chhe Bete
1979 Nauker Geeta Filmfare Best Actress Award
1981 Silsila Shobha Malhotra Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1998 Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa Sujata Chatterji
2000 Fiza Mother Nishatbi Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2001 Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... Nandini Raichand Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2002 Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe Mansi Devi
2003 Kal Ho Naa Ho Jennifer Kapur Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2007 Laaga Chunari Mein Daag Sabitri Sahay
2008 Lovesongs
2008 Drona Queen Jayanti
2010 Aap Ke Liye Hum
2011 Meherjaan Meher Bengali film

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Gulzar, p. 457
  2. ^ Somaaya, Bhaawana (2000-12-22). "His humility appears misplaced". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/2000/12/22/stories/09220226.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-19. "Probably the only actress to make a virtue out of simplicity, Jaya was the first whiff of realistic acting in an era when showbiz was bursting with mannequins" 
  3. ^ Dawar, p. 55
  4. ^ Suman (35mm / B&W / 13 min)
  5. ^ a b c d Dawar, p. 56
  6. ^ Gulzar, p. 526
  7. ^ a b Banerjee, p. 93
  8. ^ Gulzar, p. 91
  9. ^ Gulzar, p. 396
  10. ^ Maheshwari, Belu (1998-08-23). "I will not allow anyone to dictate terms to me". The Tribune. http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98aug23/sunday/head.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
  11. ^ "Another time, another wedding". The Telegraph. April 22, 2007. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070422/asp/7days/story_7680318.asp. 
  12. ^ "Jaya Bachchan - Awards". Bollywood Hungama. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/celebrities/awards/8466/index.html. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
  13. ^ "Pak-Bangla love flick starring Jaya Bachchan ready for release". Indian Express. 2011-01-20. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakbangla-love-flick-starring-jaya-bachchan-ready-for-release/739983/. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  14. ^ IANS (February 3, 2010). "I'm too upfront for politics: Jaya Bachchan". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Im-too-upfront-for-politics-Jaya-Bachchan/articleshow/5531466.cms. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
  15. ^ Singh, Sanghita (May 18, 2002). "Nikhil Nanda: The business of life". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/13296381.cms. 
  16. ^ "Interesting Facts and Figures : Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan". Sindh Today. March 25, 2009. http://www.sindhtoday.net/entertainment/78878.htm. 
  17. ^ BFJA Awards
  18. ^ BFJA Awards
  19. ^ "dharma-production.com". dharma-production.com. http://www3.dharma-production.com/MAwards/MAwardsDetails.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  20. ^ "Welcome to Brite Ideas - The Omega Rohit Bal Fashion show". Briteideas.org. http://briteideas.org/events/omega.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  21. ^ "apunkachoice". apunkachoice. 2006-11-12. http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20061112-3.html. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  22. ^ "Archives 2000". Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image. http://mumbaifilmfest.com/archives_2000.php. Retrieved 2011-10-08. 
  23. ^ mid-day.com
  24. ^ "zeenews.com". Spicezee.zeenews.com. http://spicezee.zeenews.com/articles/story54326.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  25. ^ http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article109740.ece Jaya Bachchan to receive ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in London], February 19, 2010, The Hindu

References

External links