Bachchan, an Icon in Anil Dharkar's Book

In remembrance on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and his family did not celebrate Holi this year. If they had, it would have been daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai's first Holi after she got married to Bachchan, Jr. In his blog, the Big B said that although he enjoyed Holi, he did not feel like rejoicing this year because he could not help thinking about the attacks.

His wife Jaya Bachchan also pointed out that her mother-in-law Teji Bachchan had passed away not so long ago and in her honor, the Bachchan would not celebrate Holi. She spoke to the press while in the capital with her husband for the launch of Anil Dharkar's book 'Icons: Men & Women Who Shaped Today's India' recently. Jaya, who is generally not very happy to speak to the press, surprised this time by speaking to them in a friendly manner. For her, true happiness was being with her family, she said.

Amitabh Bachchan is one of the 20 icons in Dharkar's book but his wife is not in awe of him. When asked if her husband's iconic status affected her, she smiled and said since she was always with him, familiarity did breed contempt. Jaya, an accomplished actress, has only made rare appearances on screen after getting married to Bachchan in the 1970s. However, she will soon be seen in Jayabrato Chatterjee's 'Love Songs - Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow'. The movie, which had its premiere at the 10th Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image's International Film Festival (March 6- 13), is worth a watch, if only for Jaya's acting.

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