When a priest objected to Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan's inter-caste marriage: ‘He was not a Bengali and…'

Time of India

03-06-2025

On 3 June 1973, two of Bollywood's most iconic stars,
Amitabh Bachchan
and
Jaya Bhaduri
, tied the knot in a quiet ceremony. Today, on the occasion of their wedding anniversary, let us look back on behind the scenes of what looked like a simple wedding, there was a moment of unexpected drama—when a Bengali priest protested against their inter-caste union.
Though the event stayed away from the public eye at the time, it was later brought to light by Jaya's father, journalist Taroon Coomar Bhadhuri, who wrote about it in a 1989 article for The Illustrated Weekly of India. His piece not only revealed how quickly the wedding came together, but also tackled the caste-related objections and the gossip that surrounded it.
A wedding that surprised everyone
The wedding between Amitabh and Jaya was far from a grand Bollywood event.
It was an intimate function with just family and close friends present. According to Jaya's father, the decision to marry came as a surprise to him. 'I felt he was not the run-of-the-mill Bombay film star. There were vicious people who said that Amitabh married Jaya because she was a big star, but it's totally untrue. He waited for Zanjeer to be a success.
But Jaya would have married him anyway. I know that for certain. She is not a fickle-minded person.
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She is a very determined individual, bent on having her way since childhood. It is difficult for me to say what drew them together,' he wrote.
'Secret marriage' planned overnight
Once the decision to get married was made, things moved very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that the family had no time to organise a full wedding in the usual way. As Taroon described it: 'And presto, we were in Bombay the next day to make arrangements for a 'secret marriage' on June 3, 1973.
There is no point now in going into the details of how the whole affair was kept secret and the marriage arranged in the flat of friends of our family, the Pandits, at Malabar Hill.
But there is something more to it.'
Priest protests against inter-caste union
The most dramatic part of the story came when the Bengali priest they managed to find in Mumbai raised an objection. Taroon explained, 'A Bengali marriage is usually a long-drawn-out but highly interesting affair.
The Bengali priest (who was located with great difficulty) at first protested against having to preside over a marriage between a Bengali Brahmin (Jaya) and a non-Bengali non-Brahmin (Amit). After a lot of hassle, this was sorted out.
Amit went through all the rituals, offending no one, and the ceremony went on until early the next morning. He did with sincerity all he was told to do. The following day, they flew to London.
On their return, I held a reception at Bhopal, and again Amit did whatever he was told to do.'
Setting the record straight
After their marriage, gossip spread that Jaya's parents were not happy with her decision to marry Amitabh. But Taroon set the record straight once and for all. He wrote, 'I would like to know just one good reason why my wife or I would have been opposed to the Bhaduri-Bachchan alliance. Amitabh was, and is, a lovable boy.
He struggled hard to come up in the world of films. Initial failures did not deter him, and with a Teutonic doggedness, he pursued his career.
He proposed marriage to Jaya only when the film Zanjeer clicked, and he has not looked back since. So, what reservations could we have? That he was not a Bengali and was a non-Brahmin? How ridiculous!'
Over five decades of love and togetherness
Now, more than 50 years later, Amitabh and
Jaya Bachchan
remain one of the most respected couples in Indian cinema. They have two children—Abhishek Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan—and three grandchildren, Navya Naveli, Agastya Nanda, and
Aaradhya Bachchan
.
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