At 67, Jaya Bachchan's smile still makes hearts skip a beat. Even a guest appearance in a film is enough to raise its box office stock in the eyes of the audience. Yet, over the years, Amitabh Bachchan's better half seems to have preferred a life away from the arclights with more focus on family, politics and issues of national importance.
We take a look at her life and times as she turns a year older.
Jaya was born on April 9, 1948 to journalist Taroon Kumar Bhaduri and Indira, a Bengali family living in Jabalpur. She studied at St Joseph's Convent School in Bhopal where she was also the Head Girl and later studied at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. She is among FTII's first and most illustrious alumni.
On June 3, 1973, Jaya married actor Amitabh Bachchan. She met the future Angry Young Man when he was a struggling actor and starred with him in films at a time no other actress would. Together, they created celluloid magic in films like Zanjeer, Sholay and Abhimaan.
Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan have two children, Shweta (born in 1974) and Abhishek (born in 1976). Jaya was pregnant with Shweta while shooting Sholay.
Jaya's daughter Shweta is married to businessman Nikhil Nanda, grandson of Raj Kapoor, and the two have a daughter named Navya Naveli and a son named Agastya.
Jaya Bachchan's son Abhishek is married to former Miss World and Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai. They have a daughter named Aaradhya who turned three last November.
The young Jaya Bhaduri began her professional life at the age of 15 in 1963 under master filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The film was called Mahanagar and Jaya had a supporting role with acclaimed Bengali actors Anil Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee in central roles.
Jaya Bhaduri's Bollywood break came in 1971 with the film Guddi, playing a schoolgirl obsessed with film star Dharmendra, who played himself. Amitabh Bachchan made a guest appearance as himself in the film.
After Guddi's success Jaya moved to Mumbai and starred in many hit films, such as Jawani Diwani (1972), which remains one of the few glamorous roles she did, being cast mostly in girl-next-door roles in films like Koshish (1972), Piya Ka Ghar (1972) and Bawarchi (1972).
She starred opposite husband Amitabh Bachchan in Abhimaan (1973), which won her the Filmfare award for Best Actress. This was when Filmfare gave the award to two actresses - the other recipient was Dimple Kapadia for Bobby (1973).
Jaya appeared with husband Amitabh Bachchan in the hit films Zanjeer (1973), Abhimaan (1973) and Chupke Chupke (1975).
She appeared in hit films opposite other actors as well. In 1972's Parichay, she was cast opposite Jeetendra in a Bollywood version of The Sound Of Music. She appeared with Sanjeev Kumar in 1973's Anamika and opposite Vijay Anand in 1974's acclaimed Kora Kagaz.
In 1975, Amitabh and Jaya were cast opposite each other in the landmark Sholay. Jaya played a young widow who Amitabh falls in love with.
In 1981, Jaya, Amitabh Bachchan and his alleged paramour Rekha acted together in Silsila, a story that mirrored their purported real life love triangle. The movie was arguably Bollywood's most sensational film and the alleged real-reel romance brought in the crowds in hordes. Silsila was to be Jaya's last film for 17 years.
Jaya Bachchan returned to the silver screen in 1998 with an acclaimed performance in Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Ma.
In 2000 she starred in the film Fiza opposite Karisma Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. The film was considered one of her best performances and she received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her work.
Jaya Bachchan was reunited on screen with her husband in 2001 when they played husband-wife in Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor were the other actors in the blockbuster film.
In 2003, Jaya Bachchan was part of another successful Karan Johar film Kal Ho Naa Ho, playing a single mother in New York. Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan played central roles in the film.
In the last few years, Jaya Bachchan has appeared in very few films. She played Rani Mukherji and Konkona Sen Sharma's mother in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007).
After veering away from Bollywood, Jaya became active in politics, notably with the Samajwadi Party, and is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.
In December 2012, Jaya Bachchan was among the strongest voices in Parliament calling for action after the fatal gang-rape of a medical student on-board a Delhi bus. She was part of a Bollywood-led demonstration asking to stop violence against women, and broke down in the Rajya Sabha while urging the government to amend Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and make rape a crime at par with attempt to murder.
Jaya Bachchan shares the honour of the most awarded actress at the Filmfare Awards with Nutan, with nine awards. She received the Padma Shri in 1992.
Here's wishing Jayaji a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.
