After featuring in Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha starrer 1981’s Silsila , Jaya Bachchan took a break from acting to focus on her personal life and raising Shweta and Abhishek Bachchan. In 1998, she made her comeback with Ek Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa . During that time, when the veteran actress was asked whether she took Big B’s permission for her comeback, she told Rediff, “He is my husband, not my guardian, for God’s sake.
” “I was backstage all the time. There is no question of a comeback because I have been involved in various other activities in the film industry,” she added. Jaya was the vice-chairperson of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd & chairperson of The Children’s Film Society at the time.
Jaya’s father, journalist Taroon Coomar Bhaduri spoke about Jaya’s choice to leave acting long before her comeback and wrote in Illustrated Weekly of India, “When Jaya decided to quit films, we said nothing. In my family, we have never thrust our decisions on the children. When Jaya said she wanted to join films, we said all right, go ahead.
When she decided to quit, I felt, of course, that her talent was being wasted. But it was purely her decision. I don’t think she’s ever regretted it.
” Despite Jaya’s absence from films, her attractive personality has been the highlight for the audience. She had mentioned, “Jaya’s mystique remains intact. In the ephemeral world of razzmatazz, her appeal and magic have withstood the test of time,” said Taroon addin.