When it comes to Bollywood gossip, few stories have stood the test of time like the whispers around Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, and Jaya Bachchan. According to veteran writer and film historian Hanif Zaveri, a simple lunch invitation turned out to be a pivotal moment in their complicated dynamic.
On the Meri Saheli podcast, Zaveri shared that amid rising speculation of her husband's affair with Rekha, Jaya invited the actress to her home for lunch while Amitabh was away shooting. What began as a warm, seemingly harmless meeting reportedly ended with Jaya locking eyes with Rekha and delivering a message.
She told Rekha, "Dekho, Amitabh mera tha, mera hai, aur mera hi rahega. [Look, Amitabh was mine, is mine, and will always be mine]." According to Zaveri, that composed declaration marked a turning point in Rekha's relationship with Amitabh as she was said to have gracefully withdrawn both personally and professionally from the actor after that day.
As for Amitabh and Jaya's love story, the two fell in love on the sets of Ek Nazar, but it was during the actor's near-fatal accident on the sets of Coolie that Jaya's care and devotion towards him won him over.
"After Amitabh Bachchan's accident on the set of Coolie, Jaya Bachchan played a very important role, staying by his side at the hospital 24/7, taking care of him, meeting with the doctors… When Amitabh saw all this, certain things naturally began to shift, and he started drifting away from Rekha," Zaveri recalled.
Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya got married in 1973. The couple has two children: a daughter, Shweta Bachchan, and a son, Abhishek Bachchan.
Rekha, meanwhile, married Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal in March 1990. The marriage ended just seven months later when Mukesh died by suicide. Rekha has not remarried since.
