Rekha, Amitabh, Jaya: A Silsila of Deprivation
Decades later, Bollywood’s most infamous love triangle seems even more tragic than we first thought.
It was 1971. Actor Jaya Bhaduri was 23, and her star was rising. With four film releases, she had solidified her image as the sweet and sassy girl next door. Audiences couldn’t get enough of her endearing childish antics in Guddi (1971) and Uphaar (1971), the latter which won her a special Filmfare. On the set of Guddi, she crossed paths with another rising star, there for a cameo. Amitabh Bachchan had acted in more films, but Jaya was arguably the bigger star. Still, their acting caliber and onscreen chemistry were unmistakable. They would both go on to star in the superhit Zanjeer (1973). Amitabh planned on celebrating the film’s success with Jaya, now his girlfriend, in London, but his father said he must marry her before their trip — or he couldn’t go at all. “So I obeyed!” Amitabh later recalled. It was a chat mangni pat byah (read: a flash wedding). The two tied the knot a month after Zanjeer’s release in a small, simple ceremony. Neither imagined they were going to see public success, betrayal, scandal, and heartbreak akin only to onscreen drama in just the next few years.