Jaya Bachchan Recalls Father Buying Record Player With Her First Salary: I Played Cliff Richard Songs

Jaya Bachchan, on the latest episode of granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda's podcast What The Hell Navya, spoke about her first salary. The two were also joined by Shweta Bachchan as they discussed their relationship with money in the episode titled ‘Girls just wanna have funds’. 

Jaya said, “I earned money for the first time at the age of 13. I have no idea how much I was paid… I never even asked him (her father). And it never ever bothered me…” Jaya recalled her father Taroon Kumar Bhaduri buying her a record player on which she played Cliff Richard songs with her first salary.

“When I went to the institute, I told my father I don’t want you to finance it. I paid for my education,” the actor added.

Jaya studied at Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and met Amitabh Bachchan there, and then again on the set of their film Guddi (1971) – her first movie role as an adult. After dating for some time, Jaya and Amitabh married in 1973. Jaya had made her acting debut as a teenager in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Mahanagar (1963). 

While discussing women’s take on money and how they look at finances, Jaya gave her mother’s example. She said, “I remember my mother (Indira Bhaduri) had a little kit, where she used to put money (and say) ‘yeh bhagwan ke liye hai (this is for God)’. For them (older women) everything (is) ‘yeh bhagwan karega, yeh bhagwan ne kiya (God will do this, God has done this)’ with good excuses.”

Jaya, Shweta and Navya Naveli Nanda also discussed the notion that women cannot manage money as they spoke about how crucial financial independence was for women. Sharing a promo of the episode, Navya wrote in the caption of her Instagram Reels, “Dealing with money is hard, and if you feel that way you're not the only one. To know more, check out the latest episode – Girls just wanna have funds…”