Teji Bachchan (Template:Lang-pa; Template:Lang-hi) (12 August 1914 – 21 December 2007) was a social activist who became a confidant of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi;[1] as well as being the wife of Hindi literary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Born into a Khatri Sikh Punjabi family[2] in Lyallpur, Punjab, British India. She was the daughter of Sardar Khajaan Singh, a barrister at Lyallpur.
She met Harivansh Rai Bachchan Srivastava an English teacher at the Allahabad University & she was teaching Psychology at Khoob Chand Degree College, Lahore, Pakistan. The couple got married in Allahbad in 1941.
Bachchan was a home maker and lover of stage. During his lifetime, Harivansh Rai remained completely engrossed in his muse, leaving his wife to handle all family matters. Even in social engagements, the poet willingly played second fiddle to his gregarious wife.[1]
The Bachchans had two sons Amitabh and Ajitabh. Amitabh Bachchan is Bollywood actor [3] and Amitabh's wife Jaya Bachchan is also film actress and Member of Parliament. Her grandson Abhishek Bachchan is also an actor. Aishwarya Rai is her granddaughter-in-law. Amitabh' daughter Shweta Bachchan- Nanda is married to Nikhil Nanda (Escorts Group). and great-grandchildren (recently third one was born on 16 November)
The Bachchans were a part of India’s literary circuit and high society.[4] The couple sang at events.[5]
Teji Bachchan played Lady Macbeth in her husband’s Hindi adaptation of Macbeth. They also played a cameo appearance in Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie.
She was also appointed as one of the Directors of the Film Finance Corporation in 1973. The Film Finance Corporation of India (and its successor National Film Development Corporation of India), a Government of India undertaking's main objective was to finance the production of purposeful films of good quality with a view to improving the general standards of the medium. .[6]
Teji Bachchan was in the Lilavati Hospital for almost the whole of 2007 and she was shifted to the ICU in November 2007 after her condition became worse.[7] She died at the age of 93 on 21 December 2007 after prolonged illness.[8]
