DNA (August 29, 2017)

Jaya Bachchan is known to not mince words. Outspoken to the core, she has lost her cool with the media more than once. It happened when some excited photographers referred to her bahu as ‘Ash’. “Is she your friend?” the sharp-tongued Mrs B snapped.

Now, it was the turn of a priest at Esha Deol’s godh-bharai ceremony, who got carried away and started taking selfies with star guests. Not one to take such breach of protocol lying down, the Bachchan matriarch reprimanded the priest for his carelessness and snapped, “Please focus on your prayers.”

A family friend, who was present at the do, laughs indulgently, “Firstly, she didn’t ‘snap’ at the priest. She very calmly told him to concentrate on his work. People around heard it and they were laughing, too. So, no bad blood at all.

Having said that, let me add that Jaya is known to be extremely curt when she sees bad behaviour in public. She’d have probably given the priest a dressing-down if he had persisted with his star-struck behaviour. Luckily, he saw sense in her advice and all went well thereafter.”

The family friend reveals that Mrs B’s sharp tongue can become a matter of some embarrassment for the Bachchan family. “Mr Bachchan, Abhishek and Aishwarya are portraits of diplomacy. You will never find them losing their cool in public. Mrs B is different. She cannot tolerate any kind of bad behaviour. She will speak out even if the family cringes.” Jaya is extremely close to Esha Deol.