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WATCH: I feel very proud of Ash, Abhi - Jaya Bachchan

Bachchans prepare for a birthday

Abhishek, Ash and Big B will all be in Mumbai to celebrate Jaya Bachchan turning 62

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, currently busy shooting in Goa, plans to be back in Mumbai tomorrow (April 9) to celebrate the 62nd birthday of his mother, who is recuperating from a stomach infection.

"For now Abhishek is in Goa. He is shooting for Rohan Sippy's 'Dum Maaro Dum'. But he plans to fly back either tonight or tomorrow for his mother's (Jaya Bachchan) birthday," a source close to the actor told IANS from Mumbai.

"Abhishek likes to celebrate these occasions with the family and it is most likely to be a close affair," added the source.

Veteran actor and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya had fallen ill Tuesday, her husband, megastar Amitabh Bachchan had informed through his blog.

"Jaya has taken ill... suddenly... and I am with the doctors now investigating the problem. It's never good to see her like this for she rarely gets in such condition," the 67-year-old had posted.

But he says her condition is better now.

"The fever is down and the infection in the stomach that had grounded her yesterday has abated, but the medication and rest shall have to continue for a few more days," Amitabh posted.

Luckily, her daughter-in-law Aishwarya will also be there to celebrate the b'day. She is in Mumbai shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Guzaarish', in which she plays a married nurse, who falls in love with a paraplegic patient, played by her 'Dhoom 2' and 'Jodhaa Akbar' co-star Hrithik Roshan.

Jaya made her acting debut with 'Guddi' in 1971 and went on to give memorable performances in films like 'Zanjeer', 'Abhimaan', 'Mili', 'Chupke Chupke', 'Bawarchi' and her last film was 'Silsila' (1981).

After a gap of 17 years, Jaya returned to acting with 'Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa' (1998). Since the past 10 years she was seen in movies like 'Fiza', 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham', 'Kal Ho Na Ho' and 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'.

She also did small-budget movies 'Lovesongs' and 'Aap Ke Liye Hum' -- which was earlier titled 'Chaasni'.

In the meantime, she has been active in politics. But her term in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, will come to an end in July.

Vivek keeps Amitabh and Jaya busy

Bored Abhi and Ash run far away

At the Apsara Awards on Friday (Jan 8), the entire Bachchan family came together and were seated in a group. They were seen enjoying themselves till none other than Vivek Oberoi came into the picture.

He got a seat right behind the Bachchans (pictured above). From the time he entered, he just did not stop talking to Amitabh. It started with “How are you Sir, It’s been a long time sir. Aap to baat hi nahin karte [you just don’t talk]”, and so on. He continued talking, so much so that Abhishek and Aishwarya got tired of his non-stop chatter.

Vivek, however, did not bother to talk to the junior Bachchans and kept Big B and Jaya Bachchan busy.

Finally, Abhi and Ash finally decided to change their seats and went and sat at a far distance from Vivek. But Big B did not want to come across as impolite and hence patiently kept hearing Vivek out, and even laughed along with him.

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Abhi-Ash celebrate 40 yrs of Pa

November 7, promises to be a big day for Amitabh Bachchan. For all of Bollywood has promised to join Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya in paying homage to the Big B who completes 40 years in Hindi cinema.

And, the tribute is going to be in the form of a concert in Mumbai, bigger than anything Bollywood has ever done before.

Events organiser Bunty Walia, who is putting it together, says it is too early to reveal details of the concert, but the concert is likely to be preceded by a Bachchan film festival organised by the superstar’s buddy Anil Ambani.

Almost all of Bollywood will join the Bachchan family on stage in performing songs from Big B’s films in this handsome tribute to the veteran actor.

Bachchan himself will only come on stage at the end, but he is not expected to dance, instead he will probably recite poetry made famous by his late father Harivanshrai Bachchan. The concert is not intended as a surprise to the actor who turns 67 on October 11, knowing his attention to detail, he’s been taken into confidence about every decision regarding the preparations.

Rakhi celebrations at the Bachchans

Amitabh Bachchan speaks about the festival of Rakhi on his blog, how daughter Shweta and grandchild Navya Naveli will celebrate the auspicious day with their brothers.

Amitabh Bachchan speaks about the festival of Rakhi on his blog, how daughter Shweta and grandchild Navya Naveli will celebrate the auspicious day with their brothers.

“Raksha Bandhan is the festival that respects the bond between brother and sister. Sisters shall perform a puja and arti with a diya, shall feed the brother something sweet and shall tie a ‘rakhi’ on their right wrist - a symbol seeking protection from their brother. She will respectfully touch his feet and the brother shall give her a gift - something to wear, a piece of jewelry or at times an envelope containing ‘shagun’; money which is considered auspicious.” Explains Big B

He goes on to speak about how Raksha Bandhan is portrayed onscreen, “The brother sister relationship has been very pronounced in all our films too and looked upon with great reverence. The relationship does not necessarily have to be of blood. The ‘rakhi brother’ or the ‘rakhi sister’ is a common reference in society of these relationships.”

Bachchan remembers the time when Shweta flew half way across the world to tie rakhi to Abhishek, “Last year she flew down to New York to perform the ritual as we were on tour. And then later in the evening at the concert he pulled her up in the audience when he was on stage. Navya-Naveli shall tie one on Agastya. They shall dress up in traditional attire and put on cute little solemn faces as the importance of the moment shall be explained to them from their Mother.”

Seems like its going to be a full-blown celebration at the Big B household today, SBO wishes them a colourful Raksha Bandhan.

Jaya Bachchan behind Gowarikar’s anti-Priyanka rant

While almost the entire industry has criticised Ashutosh Gowarikar for saying on stage that Aishwarya Rai should have won the IIFA Best Actress award for her performance in “Jodhaa Akbar” and not Priyanka Chopra for “Fashion”, it has now emerged that the poor guy was indeed obliging Jaya Bachchan.

For those not in the know, it so happened that after Priyanka collected her award at the ceremony in Macau on June 13, it was Ashu went on stage to receive his Best Director award for “Jodhaa Akbar”.

The first thing that he uttered after taking the mike was, “Priyanka, I love you, but I don't know how you got the award for Best Actress when Aishwarya was also nominated in the same category for ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.”

He further added, “Maybe it is because you are very hard-working and she is a natural.”

But when he realised that he was goofing up he said, “Jayaji was just asking me the same thing," pointing to Jaya Bachchan, who was standing next to him.

Subsequently, everyone thought he had just dragged Jaya into the picture as cover-up for his own mistake. However, in an interview, Jaya Bachchan has admitted that she did ask Ashu to say what he did, and that too in public.

"It is being presumed that Ashutosh unnecessarily mentioned my name regarding Aishwarya's omission from the awards. The fact is, I suggested he bring up the question on stage. We were discussing why Aishwarya had not been given any award for 'Jodhaa Akbar'. I suggested Ashutosh bring up the matter. When he mentioned my name, he wasn't doing anything wrong," Jaya has said.

“I wonder why Aishwarya's fine performance [in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’] was ignored,” she has also said, adding that she has not seen “Fashion”.

May be she should see the movie to get the answer.

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

June 3 was Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan's wedding anniversary. On his blog (bigb.bigadda.com) the actor's last post yesterday ended with, "So good night ... and Happy Anniversary!! 36 years!!"

Mrs B should write about the journey with the superstar. Maybe she should post one on Bachchan's blog as a guest writer.