Jaya Bachchan says she doesn’t want granddaughter Navya Nanda to marry; Internet reads between the lines

Bollywood veteran Jaya Bachchan is well known for speaking her mind, from the film industry to politics to the paparazzi culture. The senior actress was one of the guest speakers at the We the Women event, which was hosted by journalist Barkha Dutt on Sunday in Mumbai. At the event, among other things, Jaya Bachchan admitted that she felt marriage in an outdated institution and added that she would not want her granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda to get married.

Jaya Bachchan is a well-known Indian actress and is married to superstar Amitabh Bachchan. The couple have two children Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. Navya is Shweta’s daughter.

What Jaya Bachchan said

When Dutt asked if marriage is an outdated institution, Jaya Bachchan agreed and said, “I don't want Navya to get married. I am a grandmother now. Navya turns 28 in a few days. I am too old to advise young girls on how to bring up children. Things have changed so much and today little children are so smart, they will outsmart you.”

She added that the legality of a marriage does not have to define a relationship. “Woh Delhi ka laddoo he khao toh mushkil na khao toh bhi mushkil (either way its difficult). But just enjoy life! You don’t have to make it (signals at a pen and a paper)… we didn’t even sign the register in old times, later on, we got to know that we have to sign the register, and we signed the register after I don’t know how many years of our marriage. That means we were living illegally.”

‘Amitabh might say marriage was the biggest mistake of his life’

When she was asked if her husband shares the same views on marriage, she said, “I have not asked him. He might say that ‘biggest mistake of my life’, but I don’t want to hear that.”

Jaya admitted that although her views on marriage are very different now, she fell in love with Big B at first sight.

When she was asked if she remembers the moment she fell in love with Amitabh Bachchan, she joked, “Do you have to dig into old wounds? I have been married for the last 52 years to the same man. Isse jada pyaar main nahin kar sakti hoon (I can’t love more than this).” She added, “It will sound outdated after me saying that don’t get married… It was love at first sight.”

The Internet reads between the lines

The actress's video about marriage went viral, prompting myriad comments about the senior couple and their marriage.

“All the women in bollywood in unhappy marriages finally getting their truth out,” wrote one user on X.

“It's not only bollywood! Marriage is good for a man but not for a woman, for a woman it comes with a huge responsibility of cooking cleaning,husband&kids!The woman is just lost in this chaos. Ppl say marriage is for companionship but it's a lot more than that!!” wrote another user.

“I think marriages especially in Bollywood have been so toxic or unhappy for the women especially, that most of them in long lasting marriages have a very cynical view on the instituton,” pointed out another fan.

One user had a personal request for the senior actress and wrote, “Jaya ji Explain your obstacles to my dad He'll finally let me live peacefully.” “Staying unmarried should be normalized,” said another.

About Navya Naveli Nanda

While Navya has strong connections with the film industry- she is Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan’s granddaughter and Raj Kapoor’s great-granddaughter- she has chosen to not work in Bollywood and instead be a part of her family business. Her father, Nikhil Nanda, is a Delhi-based industrialist.

Navya Naveli Nanda graduated from New York's Fordham University in 2020. The same year, she co-founded Aara Health, a health-tech platform. She is pursuing the blended MBA programme at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

Meanwhile, Jaya celebrated her 52nd wedding anniversary with Amitabh Bachchan this year. Amitabh and Jaya got married on June 3, 1973.

Jaya was last seen in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani in 2023, which was directed by Karan Johar. The film also stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra.