Jaya Bachchan’s career is often remembered for her luminous on-screen presence in films. At a time when her natural acting style was breaking new ground in Hindi cinema, she was among the few leading ladies who could hold her own opposite stalwarts like Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and husband Amitabh Bachchan.

But 1973 proved to be a turning point, not just professionally, but personally too. After marrying Amitabh Bachchan that year, she continued to act for a while, but following the birth of her daughter, Shweta, in 1974 and Abhishek in 1976, Jaya quietly stepped back from the industry. She made rare appearances — most notably in Yash Chopra’s Silsila (1981), a film that became the subject of endless chatter because of its casting, but by then she had largely receded from the spotlight.

What often gets overlooked is that her decision to step away came at the absolute peak of her career. Veteran journalist Pooja Samant recently recalled an anecdote on the Hindi Rush podcast that underlines just how much that decision meant. She remembered Amitabh openly acknowledging Jaya’s role in his success: “During the conversation, Amit ji said, ‘I am grateful — to my parents, of course, because it’s because of them that I’ve reached where I am today. But I am also grateful to Jaya. When I was working day and night, she gave up her career and raised both our children so well. She instilled strong values in them,’” Samant said.

For a woman who could have easily gone on to deliver many more classics, the choice to step away was a sacrifice few in Bollywood would have made.