Jaya Bhaduri, a short, dusky and bubbly actress with looks like the girl next door is one of the greatest gifts to the film world by Satyajit Rai. She is an actress in her own right, who has not only created a niche for herself in the Bollywood but has also not allowed the superstar status and the tall frame of her husband Amitabh Bachchan, to overshadow her both literally and figuratively.

She was born in 1948 in Kolkata to Taroon Kumar, an author-journalist. It is here that she got her first break in Mahanagar, 1963, a Satyajit Ray film, while she was still in her teens. After doing a couple of more films and a stint at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune, where she first met Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya landed in Mumbai with a role in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film Guddi in 1971.

Though without a background in Bollywood, she carved a niche for herself within no time. Little did she know that this debut shall herald an era of stardom for her and catapult her to the virtual status of being the First Lady of Bollywood, one day. In Guddi she played a girlish, coquettish character that leaves her matinee idol husband for the man next door. Uphaar, that shortly followed Guddi was also an amazing success at the box-office. Her unpretentious demeanor, immense talent, endearing attitude and ability to enliven the characters she played brought her in the forefront of the film world.

She received greater acceptance in Mili with Amitabh, which was a woman-oriented role. In this movie Jaya's role was of a young and chubby girl, suffering from cancer. She created a furore in the film industry by her scintillating performance.

She could illuminate otherwise dull films of Anil Dhawan like Anndata and Piya ka Ghar, opposite her love, Amitabh Bachchan, who was then a fresher. She co-starred with him in movies like Zanjeer, Ek Nazar, Bansi-Birju and Abhiman. Zanjeer and Abhiman not only proved a boon for Amitabh's professional life but for his personal life as well.

On June 2, 1973 Jaya and Amitabh tied the nuptial knot. After getting married, Amitabh achieved great heights in his career. There was no looking back for him either.

She bagged her first Best Actress award for her outstanding performance in Kora Kagaz, 1974, in which she portrayed a woman caught in the tussle between her parents and husband. She was also blessed with a daughter, named Shweta in the same year. Abhishek, the second star kid was born on Feb 5, 1976.

This versatile actress played different roles in Jawani Deewani, Uphaar, Naya Din Nayi Raat followed by Koshish. Koshish was a unique experiment in the history of Bollywood. Both the leading characters performed the characters of a deaf and dumb couple superbly, exhibiting immense talent through their expressions and emotions. She earned great fame by acting in movies like Naya Din Nayi raat, Anamika and Naukar with Sanjeev Kumar as a co-star. She stood tall against him in Naya Din Nayi Raat, in which the Nau-Ras, the nine facets of life have been exuberantly portrayed. The movie Naukar, 1980, proved to be another turning point in her career when she bagged the best actress award.

Jaya also played small but significant character roles in few films like Chupke-Chupke and Sholay before saying goodbye to Bollywood, as she decided to focus on her family life. Thereafter, Yash Chopra convinced her for a short comeback in Silsila, with Amitabh, Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar as her co-stars. The storyline of this movie was close to Jaya and Amitabh's real life story.

At 53, in 1998, she came back as an actress in Govind Nihalani's Hazar Chuarasi Ki Ma playing roles of her age. Fans were also elated by her performance as a mother of Hrithik and Karishma in Fiza. She has also been appreciated for her role as Nandini in Karan Johar's Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gam. Besides character roles, Jaya also joined her husband's entertainment company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited, ABCL, and produced a serial, Dekh Bhai Dekh and a movie Tere Mere Sapne.

Jaya Bachchan, known for superb dialogue delivery and timing, is an actress endowed with a potential to enact both comic and serious roles with ease. She has worked with the best directors of the Hindi cinema from Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Govind Nihalani to Karan Johar. Live, energetic and versatile Jaya is not a mere name on the vast tinsel horizon but is a living legend.