“I feel I am orphaned,” said Jaya Bachchan at the funeral ceremony of director Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Mumbai yesterday. the funeral was attended by several film personalities like Gulzar, Raju Hirani, Subhash Ghai amongst others. Hrishida had directed Jaya in her debut film ‘Guddi’ (A film that is my mother’s all time favourite even today). She went on to do classics like ‘Abhimaan’ and ‘Mili’ (Many consider it to be her best work till date). Many people may not know about the fact that when Jaya Bachchan was new to the city after completing her stint with the Film Institute in Pune, it was Hrishida who asked her to stay in his house. And it was he who introduced her to Amitabh Bachchan, her future husband.

While there is Jaya Bachchan as one end of the spectrum, it was a bit ironical to read about Rekha’s comments on Hrishikesh Mukherjee in today’s morning newspaper. She credits him with giving her a role of a life time in ‘Khoobsurat’. But in her characteristic ‘other woman’ style (Remember she was The Woh or is it woe in the Amitabh-Jaya marriage) she also mentioned in a subtle manner that ‘Amitji shared dirty jokes with Hrishida’. Now, that was totally uncalled for, especially when you are remembering someone after death. She went on to say that it was Hrishida who had introduced her to the culture of playing Holi. But, needlessly she added that the Holki parties hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother Teji Bachchan were unprecedented.

Now, these kinds of statements are not asked for. And she continues to add fuel to the rumour-mills about her passionate romance with Amitabh Bachchan which almost ended his marriage at one point of time. If it wouldn’t have been for that untimely accident on the sets of ‘Coolie’ (Where Big B almost died) and the extraordinary care Jaya Bachchan took of him, maybe this marriage wouldn’t have withstood the test of time. It’s time Rekha moved on…There’s more to life than being obsessed about a love affair that couldn’t reach its logical conclusion.