On 3 June 1973, two of Bollywood’s most iconic stars, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, tied the knot in a quiet ceremony. At the moment, on the event of their marriage ceremony anniversary, allow us to look again on behind the scenes of what seemed like a easy marriage ceremony, there was a second of sudden drama—when a Bengali priest protested in opposition to their inter-caste union.Although the occasion stayed away from the general public eye on the time, it was later delivered to mild 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 solely revealed how rapidly the marriage got here collectively, but in addition tackled the caste-related objections and the gossip that surrounded it.A marriage that stunned everybodyThe marriage between Amitabh and Jaya was removed from a grand Bollywood occasion. It was an intimate operate with simply household and shut associates current. In accordance with Jaya’s father, the choice to marry got here as a shock to him. “I felt he was not the run-of-the-mill Bombay movie star. There have been vicious individuals who stated that Amitabh married Jaya as a result of she was a giant star, nevertheless it’s completely unfaithful. He waited for Zanjeer to be a hit. However Jaya would have married him anyway. I do know that for sure. She just isn’t a fickle-minded individual. She is a really decided particular person, bent on having her approach since childhood. It’s troublesome for me to say what drew them collectively,” he wrote.‘Secret marriage’ deliberate in a single dayAs soon as the choice to get married was made, issues moved in a short time. So rapidly, in actual fact, that the household had no time to organise a full marriage ceremony within the traditional approach. As Taroon described it: “And presto, we had been in Bombay the subsequent day to make preparations for a ‘secret marriage’ on June 3, 1973. There isn’t any level now in going into the main points of how the entire affair was stored secret and the wedding organized within the flat of associates of our household, the Pandits, at Malabar Hill. However there’s something extra to it.”Priest protests in opposition to inter-caste unionProbably the most dramatic a part of the story got here when the Bengali priest they managed to seek out in Mumbai raised an objection. Taroon defined, “A Bengali marriage is normally a long-drawn-out however extremely attention-grabbing affair. The Bengali priest (who was situated with nice issue) at first protested in opposition to having to preside over a wedding between a Bengali Brahmin (Jaya) and a non-Bengali non-Brahmin (Amit). After plenty of problem, this was sorted out. Amit went via all of the rituals, offending nobody, and the ceremony went on till early the subsequent morning. He did with sincerity all he was informed to do. The next day, they flew to London. On their return, I held a reception at Bhopal, and once more Amit did no matter he was informed to do.”Setting the report straightAfter their marriage, gossip unfold that Jaya’s dad and mom weren’t blissful along with her determination to marry Amitabh. However Taroon set the report straight as soon as and for all. He wrote, “I want to know only one good motive why my spouse or I might have been against the Bhaduri-Bachchan alliance. Amitabh was, and is, a lovable boy. He struggled exhausting to return up on the planet of movies. Preliminary failures didn’t deter him, and with a Teutonic doggedness, he pursued his profession. He proposed marriage to Jaya solely when the movie Zanjeer clicked, and he has not seemed again since. So, what reservations may now we have? That he was not a Bengali and was a non-Brahmin? How ridiculous!”Over 5 a long time of affection and togethernessNow, greater than 50 years later, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan stay some of the revered {couples} in Indian cinema. They’ve two kids—Abhishek Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan—and three grandchildren, Navya Naveli, Agastya Nanda, and Aaradhya Bachchan.