Amitabh-Jaya's 50th wedding anniversary special: 5 movies they starred together
One of Bollywood's most iconic couples, Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday! They got hitched on June 3, 1973, and despite being in the public eye 24x7, have been able to keep their relationship untarnished from controversies successfully. On this special day, we revisit some films where the duo lit up the screen through their chemistry.
'Bansi Birju' (1972)
Bansi Birju was reportedly the first film to star the celebrity couple together. Directed by Prakash Verma, it came out in 1972 and featured Jaya as Bansi and Big B as Birju. In this romantic drama, the duo, a married couple, live peacefully in their village, but all hell breaks loose when the villagers discover that Bansi is actually a sex worker.
'Sholay' (1975)
It is not possible to speak about the filmographies of the Bachchan couple without mentioning what is considered the most iconic film of Hindi cinema: Ramesh Sippy's Sholay. Jaya played Radha, Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law, who falls for Jai (Amitabh). Written by Salim-Javed and produced by GP Sippy, Sholay is the classic example of a masala film that crosses with the Spaghetti Western genre.
'Zanjeer' (1973)
Zanjeer was a film that marked a watershed moment in Bachchan's career and established him as Hindi cinema's "angry young man" While he was the lead actor and the soul of this intense drama, Jaya played a character called Mala, who gets embroiled in the main narrative and becomes pivotal to the central plot. Zanjeer was helmed by Prakash Mehra and written by Salim-Javed.
'Silsila' (1981)
The romantic movie Silsila did not do too well upon its release but is remembered with much love and admiration today, even considered a cult classic by some. Starring Amitabh, Jaya, and Rekha (and coinciding with the alleged troubled real-life love triangle between the three), the film was directed by Yash Chopra and featured Jaya as Amitabh's wife and Rekha as his lover.
'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...' (2001)
Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... is a true blue Indian family drama, rich in emotions, sentiments, love, dance, music, and family values. Amitabh played Yash Raichand, who has a fallout with his son over a girl belonging to a lower class than theirs. Jaya's iconic scene with the aarti ki thaali as she welcomes her son back is one for the history books!
