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MUMBAI: While father Amitabh Bachchan has been crowned as the only Megastar of Bollywood, brother Abhishek Bachchan is on the road of getting there, mother Jaya Bachchan one of the top actresses of her time and sister-in-law Aishwarya, an established actress with a well renowned name globally – Shweta Nanda confesses to have never been inclined to be a part of Bollywood.
For a nation that has been infatuated by one Bachchan or another for roughly four decades, Shweta reveals how she prefers to be the one standing her ground and deflecting the perpetual fascination that the nation has with her family.
The 38 year old recalls her only “disastrous” interlude in front of the camera: a short -lived incident involving being the host of a TV show. Shweta bluntly says, “I’m scared of cameras and I’m not good with crowds. I don’t think I have the talent or the face to be a heroine. I’m happy where I am.”
Nanda has always been a mystery, a woman standing among her kin at events but rarely choosing to speak.
“She is quietly effective,” says her mother Jaya, whom Nanda calls her biggest critic. “She shies away from the limelight.”
Shweta is the proud mother of two children, Navya – 15 years old and 12-year-old Agastya.
“Navya is a total girl, I love having her at this age. I’m living vicariously through her, buying her pink sequined shorts and high top sneakers that I really can’t wear now. She’s already taking some of my neon bags and accessories, picking the pieces she wants to keep,” says the happy mother.
Having bagged the latest cover of the ‘Vogue’ Magazine, Shweta talks a little bit about Fashion. Her look is an interesting hybrid of the older Bachchans. She’s glamorous, yes, but considers herself far less flamboyant than her father, and she appreciates her mother’s pared-down choices.
At her father’s birthday extravaganza, you couldn’t miss Nanda-statuesque in shimmering gold-greeting guests warmly, dancing up a storm and out-shining many of the stars. “I work on my look a lot more now,” Shweta admits, but there’s a paradox in this that makes a strong case for her inherent elegance.
“I’m more groomed, but I’m still lazy. I don’t like to put things together—I’m not big on accessories, and I prefer solid hues.”
With only two years between them, she and younger brother Abhishek have always been very close.
While they attended Boston University, they shared an apartment, dividing chores and working on school assignments. “I would cook, and he would clean; he was in charge of the accounts, while I did the decor,” she recalls.
This particular period of their partnership came to end when Nanda was 23 years old.
“When I got married, he moved back home. He couldn’t cope. He was so shy that he wouldn’t even order a pizza on his own!” she says with big sister affection.
Sister in Law Aishwarya Rai she says, has easily taken on the role of daughter in the house and the grandparents are completely in love with the newest little addition – baby Aaradhya Bachchan.
