RAB NE BANAA DI JODI, JODI NE RAB KI SHAAN BADAAYI AMITABH - JAYA KI 48 th SHAADI KI ANNIVERSARY PAR

At a time when marriages are facing major problems like rifts , disputes , cracks , threats of breaking up , separation and divorce , it is heartening to know that Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan have completed 48 years of their marriage - Ali Peter John

True , there may have been ups and downs , good times and bad times ( which marriage is perfect , tell me if all marriages were perfect , heaven would come down to earth ) in their marriage, but the very fact that they have overcome all the obstacles in their way and are still working together and aiming to make their wedded life an example and a shining light for all married couples now and in the time to come.

Amitabh who was a struggling actor had visited the FTII in Pune , where he saw Jaya Bhaduri with her class mates , Danny Denzongpa and Romesh Sharma .

One look at Amitabh and Jaya knew that if she ever got married , she would marry this man ( Amitabh).

Amitabh and Jaya next met on the sets of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Guddi" in which Jaya was playing a school girl who is a crazy fan of Dharmendra.

There was talk about Amitabh. being cast as the romantic hero opposite Jaya , but the role went to Samit Bhanja, an actor from Kolkata . But Amitabh. made friends with Jaya and friendship led to love.

Fortune was in their favour and they played the romantic leads in films like " Bansi Birju" , "Ek Nazar " and some other films which went unnoticed.

The love story of the unusual couple kept growing stronger after the release of "Ek Nazar".

Amitabh kept visiting Beach Apartments in Juhu where Jaya lived on the sixth floor with another new actress called Rekha as her neighbour . The visits became regular and Amitabh was still looking for a breakthrough.

Jaya was signed by Prakash Mehra to play the leading lady of "Zanjeer " . Big male stars turned down Mehra's offer to play the leading man , heroes like Dev Anand , Dharmendra and Raaj Kumar .

The veteran actors Pran and Om Prakash strongly recommended Amitabh for the role and Jaya made her happiness obvious when Amitabh was signed to play Inspector Vijay in the film .

Amitabh knew Zanjeer was his do or die film and put his whole life into the character he was playing , in spite of facing rough competition from the two veterans , Pran and Om Prakash , in addition to the challenge he had to face from Ajit , the villain and above all his not having any song to sing as the hero .

Amitabh and Jaya had decided that they would get married after the release of Zanjeer . The film was a big hit and Amitabh and Jaya together with some of their close friends first decided to go on a vacation to London to celebrate the success of Zanjeer .

Amitabh told his father , Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan about his decision to marry Jaya . And his father told him that if he was going abroad with Jaya, he would have to marry Jaya before going to London , or he would not allow Amitabh to marry Jaya. Amitabh had to obey his father who was his ideal , idol and guide in all matters of life .

The very much in love couple took a decision to have a very private kind of marriage ceremony.

It was decided to have the marriage rites at the house of a friend of Jaya who lived on the posh Malabar Hill .

Amitabh was living as a tenent in a building called "Mangal " on the 7nth Road in Juhu Vile Parle Scheme ( where Anil Kapoor and Anupam' Kher now live).

Amitabh had to leave "Mangal " to reach the venue of the marriage . He decided to drive himself , but his driver Nagesh asked him to sit behind and he drove the simple car in which Amitabh sat dressed like a typical "dulha " on his way to welcome his "dulhan"

There were just about fifteen people at the ceremony , which included Amitabh's parents , Jaya's father , Me Tarun Coomar Bhaduri , a leading journalist and writer from Bopal.

And the most known guest was Sanjay Gandhi , Amitabh's childhood friend and the son of the then Prime Minister , Mrs Indira Gandhi . Sanjay who was just getting controversial in politics tried his best to keep his visit a secret , but a section of the media got to know about him being present at Amitabh's wedding and some newspapers even had Sanjay's photographs published on their front pages .

The ceremony was over within half an hour and after some refreshments , Amitabh and Jaya , the new Mr and Mrs Bachchan drove to "Mangal" which was to be their home .

They lived at "Mangal" till Abhishek was born and it was before Abhishek was born that Amitabh had bought an old bungalow , got it demolished and built a new house which was given the name "Prateeksha" by Amitabh's poet - father.

Amitabh , Jaya and the newborn Abhishek moved into "Prateeksha" and celebrated their Diwali of 1976 at "Prateeksha".

And life was a whirlwind of activities for Amitabh and Jaya till they ultimately shifted into the massive ,"Jalsa" , where Amitabh , Jaya , Abhishek , Aishwarya and Aaradhya live . "Prateeksha" was one of the landmarks of Bombay , Jalsa is the landmark now .

The only upheaval in their marriage came when Rekha's name become a part of a love triangle. But the couple overcame this hurdle and have had no other hassles since then .

Jaya played a heroic role when Amitabh met with that near fatal accident in 1982 . Who can forget the night of August 2 1982 when Amitabh was declared clinically dead by the doctors at Breach Candy Hospital and Jaya had walked bare feet from the hospital to the Siddhivinayak Temple after midnight to pray for Amitabh's life.

And how she had walked back to Amitabh's room only to see that one of his toes was moving and how she had screamed and said , "he is alive, he is alive " and how the doctors attending on him had come rushing back to Amitabh's room and had fought a battle to bring Amitabh back to life and had succeeded ?

Jaya had also played an active part in supporting Amitabh when he was involved in the Bofors case , till he fought out his case in the World Court and had won .

Jaya brought out a coffee table book on the occasion of Amitabh's 60th birthday . I was fortunate to be made a part of the book by Jaya .

During the last few years , Jaya has been almost living in New Delhi and attending Parliament.

But when Amitabh and Abhishek rested positive for Covid she kept flying in and out of Delhi and Mumbai to see that all the care was taken for her husband and her son .

Does it mean that Amitabh had no part in keeping their marriage going strong for 48 years ?

The answer to this question also comes from Jaya , who says " this marriage would not have faced all the tests and trials with fortitude , if it was not for Amit who has been the force behind the fort of love he has been building for God alone knows how many years "

There are many other stories to tell about this most well-known couple, but it would be better if they told the stories about their lives together.

Why can't they join hands and write a book to coincide with the golden jubilee of their marriage which is just two years away ?

SHAADI MUBARAK KEHNA BAHUT KUM HOGA AISI JODI KO . AISE JODI KE LIYE HUM KO DUAA KARNA CHAAYIYE KI YE SHAADI SUKHMAY , SHANTIMAY AUR "PYARMAY" HO AUR DUNIYA KE LIYE EK SHAANDAR MISAAL BANE. MUBARAK HO , YA RAB KI TUNE AISI GAZAB KI JODI BANAAYI