When Jaya Bachchan Was Called 'Mad' for Working With Amitabh Bachchan: 'He Will Never Make It...'

Veteran actor Jaya Bachchan had once spoken about how people in the Hindi film industry questioned her for working with Amitabh Bachchan. Jaya already became a bigger star when Amitabh was still trying to set his foot in Hindi cinema. It was Jaya who agreed to work with Amitabh in Salim–Javed scripted Zanjeer (1973) when he had faced a string of flops and most lead heroines refused to work with him.

In an interview in 2010, Jaya revealed that people would call her “mad” for working with Amitabh Bachchan. She also said several people told her that Amitabh ‘will never make it’.

Jaya made her debut in the Hindi film industry with Guddi in 1971, while Amitabh’s first film was Saat Hindustani (1969). The duo featured in many films together such as Ek Nazar (1972), Zanjeer and Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke, Sholay and Mili (1975), Silsila (1981), and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001). Amitabh had a cameo appearance in Guddi (1971) and Piya Ka Ghar (1972). They got married in 1973 and have two children together- actor Abhishek Bachchan and entrepreneur Shweta Bachchan Nanda.

Speaking with Rediff, Jaya got candid about the Abhishek’s comparison with Amitabh. “If he really has it in him, then he will overcome the towering figure (Amitabh). He must struggle in order to achieve. I know when Amitji came (in film industry) people used to say ‘are you mad? Why are you working with this guy? He will never make it.’ Same people who said this have worked with him, regularly, later,” she had said.

Jaya further said, “Not only as a mother but as a student of cinema and acting I would like to see an actor, it can be Abhishek or anybody, who can really take on Amitabh Bachchan. Why not? Somebody hopefully, better (than Amitabh)?”

Earlier this year, Jaya Bachchan opened about the ‘difficult’ phases that she and Amitabh Bachchan went through. Amitabh went through a rather tough time in the 1990s when his company went bankrupt.

Recalling the time, Jaya told her granddaughter Navya on her podcast, “We went through different kind of failures in different phases of my life. When a man is going through a tough phase, it’s nice to just be there and be quiet for them. It’s nice to be silently standing there and saying listen I am here for you.”