Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan tied the knot in June 1973 after the success of their film ‘Zanjeer’. The couple had developed liking towards each other, even before they had started working on the film. They had an intimate, secret wedding with not many people involved. However, Amitabh Bachchan’s father Harivanshrai Bachchan had shared some extremely heartwarming moments about the wedding in his autobiography, ‘Dashdwaar Se Sopaan Tak’. While he spoke about their marriage in the autobiography, he also revealed that Jaya Bachchan had to go for a shoot just a couple of days after getting married and he did not like her working when there were three men in the house who could take care of the expenses. However, Jaya Bachchan has often clarified that the decision to not do films after having children was her own and she was very happy just being a mother that time. Harivanshrai Bachchan further said that Jaya Bachchan’s family was upset about her getting married and leaving the house. He wrote what Jaya Bachchan’s father Taroon Kumar Bhaduri told him. Before the wedding they visited the actress’ house for kanya puja. “Apart from Jaya, no one’s face had even a hint of happiness. Jaya had done some makeup and for the first time, I saw some ‘lajja’ on her face, which I had never seen before. ‘Lajja’ is such an integral part of beauty, I realised that for the first time. She was a fine actress so she could have acted that she was feeling shy, but in that moment, her expression looked genuine,” he wrote. He recalled the words of Jaya Bachchan’s father and said, “I hugged Jaya’s father and congratulated him by saying, ‘Congrats on getting a son-in-law like Amitabh.’ I was hoping he would say, ‘Congrats on getting a daughter-in-law like Jaya.’ But he said, ‘Mera toh ghar hi ujad gaya.’”The legendary poet revealed how the wedding was in a rush and low-key. From the Bachchan side, only their close friends, The Rajans and The Gandhis, were to be invited. Big B’s mother called Indira Gandhi to invite her to the wedding. He wrote, “Teji called Indira Gandhi on the phone. As we had expected, she congratulated but expressed that she wouldn’t be able to attend. Actually, we did not even want her to come because if she had come, then we wouldn’t be able to keep the wedding a secret. She said that Sanjay would be there to represent the Gandhi family.” He also revealed an important tradition which they had in the family and how they welcomed the actress as ‘bahu’ by touching her feet. “We have a tradition that when a new bride comes to the house for the first time, the mother-in-law will touch her feet, for the first and the last time, and after that, she will never touch her feet, only the daughter-in-law will touch the mother-in-law’s feet. While welcoming her, the mother-in-law will say, ‘Enter this house like a goddess who is here to bless us’. And in response, the daughter-in-law will say, ‘I, the goddess, step in this house. I am entering in a palanquin, and will leave on a pyre’,” he shared, describing the symbolic promise traditionally made by a daughter-in-law.He added that he had rejected the idea of Teji making such vows when they married, and so they chose the same approach for Jaya. He wrote, “Teji and I decided that we would welcome Jaya by touching her feet, but we would not ask her to say those words, since Teji had also not said those words.”On the wedding day, the Bachchan home was modestly decorated with a few lights for good fortune. But even this small gesture invited curiosity from neighbours. When asked what the occasion was, they were simply told it was for one of Amitabh’s film shoots and the explanation worked. Fourteen people, including Amitabh Bachchan, quietly left in three cars for the venue and quickly slipped inside to maintain the secrecy of the ceremony. Go to Source
