Shweta Bachchan Turns Novelist, Speaks On The Novel

Knowing the family  the way I do, I always saw Amitabh and Jaya bachchan’s daughter Shweta as  the  true inheritor of her two grandparents’ legacy.

Shweta and brother Abhishek’s paternal grandfather was the legendary writer-poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, and their meternal grandfather was the renowned journalist Taroon Kumar  Bhaduri.

When I   tell Shweta that she is carrying  her grandfathers’ legacy ahead she replies, “I  aspire to. Yes,  I am publishing  my first novel.My novel is called Paradise  Towers. It is out in October. I have finished  writing it. The  publishers are  HarperCollins India.”

  In an earlier interview to me Shweta had said,  “Most of my decisions in life have been emotional. I’ve always been devoted to family and friends. There has never been a career plan. Nor did I plan the ramp walk or the tvstint as a stepping stone. Everything has happened spontaneously in my life. I’ve never planned anything, and I won’t plan it either.”

  Speaking  proudly about  his  daughter the Big B  had said to me, “Shweta is the most intelligent and balanced Bachchan. She’s very objective in assessment of situations. Whenever we reach a dead-end during a family discussion we call up Shweta and put her on the conference line. We always keep going back to her for her wise opinion. Her intelligence comes through on her show. Shweta is a voracious reader.”

Shweta  was  never interested  in  being  an actress.

Said Mr  Bachchan, “The choice was entirely hers. In fact she was never interested in even accompanying me to shootings and film events. On the other hand Abhishek would always accompany me wherever I went. I thinkShweta was a little shy and scared of events.”

Shweta’s favourite  film of  her father: “My favourite films of my dad? Most of my favourites are his comic light-hearted films from the 1970s like Naseeb and Amar Akbar Anthony.”

 Shweta On  her  mother Jaya Bachchan’s decision to quit her career at  its peak? “It isn’t for me to comment on what she did. Everyone makes her own decisions. I’m sure she was a hundred percent convinced in what she was doing then, as she is in what she’s doing now.”

Shweta On Brother Abhishek  Bachchan: “I was a proud sister even when he was struggling. He had to wait for his career to come together, and it wasn’t easy. He handled himself with dignity.”