Moushumi Chatterjee says she still considers herself better person than Jaya Bachchan: 'Can't force anyone to like you'

Hindustan Times

17-05-2025

Veteran actor Moushumi Chatterjee grabbed headlines last year when she told the paparazzi, "I am a much better person than Jaya Bachchan." Now, in an interview with Nayandeep Rakshit, Moushumi addressed her statement and opened up about her past rivalry with Jaya Bachchan. (Also Read: Moushumi Chatterjee calls Rajesh Khanna 'egoistic', says this about Amitabh Bachchan)
Moushumi clarified her statement and said, "That was fabricated, but I don't like comparisons. It's your luck that you see Jaya Bachchan that way, but one incident can't define everything. Where does your humanity go then? Sometimes the paparazzi can be irritating. They don't want to listen. Once you want to stay away from the limelight, you cannot force a person to like you. But I don't like to compare. I consider myself a better person. I know that. First, you have to know yourself to understand others."
She further opened up about whether there was any rivalry between her and Jaya Bachchan when they were contemporaries and said, "Oh yes, there were underlying connections. Rivalry was there, and I had also heard some stories, but I was indifferent because I was not made only for acting. I had a choice. I came from a home where there was already a car and servants. So, I was not working to achieve all that, unlike those who needed to earn money to attain those things."
In 2024, during an event in Mumbai, Moushumi was seen posing for the paparazzi. The photographers repeatedly asked her to adjust her gaze and smile for the cameras. She appeared visibly irritated. Amid this, when one of her friends compared her to Jaya Bachchan, she immediately looked at the paps and said, "I am a much better person than Jaya Bachchan." She added, "Actually, aap log nahi hote toh hum kahaan hote (Actually, without you [paps], we [actors] wouldn't exist)."
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For the unversed, Jaya Bachchan is often seen lashing out at the paparazzi for constantly shouting her name while clicking photographs. On several occasions, the Mili actor has been seen reprimanding photographers who try to click her pictures.
Moushumi was one of the highest-paid actors in the 1970s. She is widely known for her work in Hindi and Bengali films and has delivered several hits alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, and other superstars. She was most recently seen in the Bengali film Aarii. The action drama, written and directed by Jiit Chakraborty, explored the sacrifices and emotional bond between a widowed mother and her caregiver son. The film was a commercial success at the box office.