Several of her video clips have gone viral on social media, where she has been seen snapping at fellow MPs and reporters, and worse, cursing them.
NEW DELHI: Renowned actress and 74-year-old parliamentarian, Jaya Bachchan has become famous, rather infamous for hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons—specifically because of behaviour issues in both Parliament and outside. Several video clips of hers have gone viral on social media, where she has been seen snapping at fellow MPs and reporters—worse, cursing them—leaving many people wondering what makes Jaya Bachchan of the famous Bachchan name, so angry.
In December 2021, during a discussion on the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, Jaya Bachchan, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the Samajwadi Party, lost her temper when another MP questioned her about the summons the Enforcement Directorate had issued to her daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the Panama Papers leak case. Amid the verbal spat she suddenly screamed, “How can they make personal remarks in the House…Aap logon kay buraey din aayengay [Your bad days will come soon], I curse you.” No wonder a shocked Rajya Sabha was adjourned.
Similarly, another incident created a buzz when she chased away the paparazzi outside the Bachchan residence on Diwali—calling the reporters “intruders”, even as the bodyguards shouted “ae bhai, band kar”, which went viral on social media. Similarly, during the recent Lakme Fashion Week, another clip of Navya calming her grandmother went viral. In the clip the duo is seen walking side by side, when a reporter stumbles and loses his balance, making Jaya retort: “I hope you double up and fall.”
Then there was another video showing the veteran actress pointing her finger at reporters and asking, “Aap log koun hain? (Who are you?) Aap log media se hain? Kaunsi media se hai? (Which media house do you belong to?)” However, the show didn’t end there. When some reporters named their media houses, Jaya Bachchan commented, “What? Who? Kaunsa akhbaar hai ye? Which newspaper is this?”
As the tantrums of the veteran actress started doing the rounds of social media, a digital creator named Analeecerejo mimicked her irate outbursts and started trolling her. Impersonating the actress, Analee said, “Who are you? Are you from the media? Who? What? Serves you right. I hope you stumble and fall.”
It must be pointed out here that no personal comments were made to Jaya or her family members in any of these situations, despite her claim that she gets enraged when someone intrudes into her personal space, as she told her granddaughter Navya and daughter Shweta on the podcast “What The Hell, Navya”.
In the podcast with her granddaughter, Navya Naveli Nanda, she hints that she gets upset with people who despise her and make “personal” remarks against her. During the podcast, she clearly states, “I feel very strongly and it’s not that it’s today, I felt it from day one. I don’t mind if you talk about my work. You say (that) ‘she is a bad actor and she has done this film badly, she is not looking nice’, because it’s a visual media, (I) don’t mind. But the rest I do mind.”
She further adds, “You can say, ‘She is a bad actor, a bad parliamentarian’, but you have no business sitting on judgement of my personal character. ‘She only knows how to get angry.’ Angry about what? You’re intruding, interfering in my personal when I’m walking somewhere, you’re taking my picture. Why? Am I not a human being?”
In October 2022, when the veteran actress visited a temple in Bhopal, the residents of TT Nagar in the city hurried to the temple along with many photojournalists. There too she screamed at her fans and reporters for being too “enthusiastic” about the family’s trip to the temple, instead of maintaining her composure.
Similarly, at the inauguration of sister-in-law Ramola Bachchan’s store back in 2014, the actress, instead of politely refusing to answer questions, snapped at a reporter by saying, “Aap bataiye, yeh jagah hai yeh sawaal poochne ka (You tell me, is this the place to ask this question)? Don’t act smart with me.” This incident, once again, went viral on social media.
History shows that even in 2011 a reporter was scolded for “raising a political question” when he asked her about her budgetary expectations. She didn’t politely decline to answer the question; instead, she pushed her microphone away and stormed off. A similar microphone-pushing incident took place during the opening of a celebrity gym in 2012.
She lost her composure once more during Subhash Ghai’s wife’s birthday celebrations in 2013 when a photographer called her daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan “Aishwarya”. Instead of reacting politely, she shouted, “Kya Aishwarya, Aishwarya bula rahe ho; tumhari class mein padhti thi kya? (Why are you calling her Aishwarya, Aishwarya? Was she your classmate?)”