By Oindrila Muhuri Last Updated:
Jaya Bachchan was one of the iconic actresses of her time. With her stellar acting chops, she has already worked in a number of films. However, when she was at the peak of her career, she got married to the love of her life, Amitabh Bachchan in the year 1973. Afterwards, they were blessed with their first child, Shweta Bachchan, in 1974 and welcomed their second kid, Abhishek Bachchan, in 1976. Following this, she took a long break from her acting career, which lasted for about 17 years.
For the unversed, it was in 1981 when Jaya Bachchan acted in the film, Silsila, and then took a hiatus only to return to the silver screens with the 1998 film, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. Now, she is working in back-to-back blockbuster films, and was last seen in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, co-starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in lead roles. Thus, to break the apprehensions that she went on a sabbatical for the sacrifice of taking care of her kids, she opened up in an interview with Times Now.
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In the interview, Jaya was asked the real reason behind quitting her work mid-way when she was immensely successful at that time, and if it was because she wanted to focus on raising her children. To this, she gave a prompt answer and mentioned that although there are several claims of the same in the media, but it was completely her choice and nothing of a form of martyrdom. Rejecting the 'Mother India' label attached to her, she clarified that no one can coerce her to do anything against her will. Jaya said:
"Everyone saw it as a big sacrifice and painted me as 'Mother India'. But the fact is, I did what I wanted to. There was no martyrdom involved because I'm not that kind of person. No one can make me do what I don't want to."
In an old interview with Simi Garewal, on her chat show, Rendezvous With Simi Garewal, Shweta had shred that her mother, Jaya used to be more partial towards Abhishek. The doting daughter also revealed how she was hit by her mother, only because she was supposed to set examples for her brother. Listening to this, Jaya revealed that Shweta had been a very difficult child, and also dared to talk back to her during multiple incidents. Adding to this, Abhishek revealed that his sister was merely protective of him. At the same time, Amitabh silenced the entire conversation by sharing what their granddaughter, Navya Naveli Nanda, would say about these interviews.
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In an old interview with Mid Day, Abhishek had opened up about his mother, Jaya. Talking about the same, the actor revealed that he has never been able to view his mother as an actress as he is quite emotional for her. Hence, the doting son mentioned that he is not able to react to her movies and give any suggestions. Mentioning how Jaya doesn't like this behaviour of the actor, Abhishek quipped:
"She is the only member of my family whom I don’t react to as an actor because it’s maa! I am emotional about her. I am sure she doesn’t like too much because she is an actor at heart. But to me, she is maa."
What do you think about Jaya's confession regarding her 'Mother India' tag? Let us know!
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