Jaya Bachchan-Shabana Azmi The New Best Friends In  Town

If  it wasn’t for  Karan  Johar, Shabana  Azmi and Jaya Bachchan  wouldn’t have become best friends. His Rocky & Rani  Ki Prem Kahani gave  the two ladies   chance  to  bond like never before.  Now  when their work is  complete, they  continue to be close friends.

Says Shabana, “It is very difficult to  carry  the  bonding during shooting to the outside. Most  on-set friendships  end on the sets. It  is very different with  Jaya. We hit it off instantaneously when  we   met on Karan’s set. Karan’s makes everyone  so comfortable and  happy. There’s bound to be a closeness between the actors.”

Of course they had met socially on several occasions  before shooting for Rocky & Rani Ki Prem Kahani.

“But when you are on the set it’s  a  different experience. There  is more  focused conversation. I have to confess I was  always a huge fan of  Jaya  . I can’t remember the number of times I’ve seen Abhimaan,” gushes the five-times National award winner Shabana .

On screen in Karan’s film Jaya and  Shabana play warring character who hate each other.  But once the camera was switched off they were best friends.

“And  I am going to ensure that  it continues   that way. I never knew Jaya has such a  sense  of humour. She had me in splits.She’s also given me  a  gift which I  shall cherish for as long as I am alive,” Shabana vows.

Incidentally Shabana  and  Jaya’s  sons Farhan and  Abhishek are childhood friends. Farhan had offered Abhishek  one  of the lead roles of Sid, the one  Saif Ali Khan finally played in Dil  Chahta  Hai.