Jaya Bachchan celebrates birthday 'quietly' with her family

While work beckoned the patriarch Amitabh Bachchan of the Bachchan parivar on the matriarch Jaya Bachchan’s 66th birthday on Wednesday, the rest of the extended family made sure they were around to make this one of the happiest birthdays of her life so far. Says a close family friend, “Jayaji likes nothing better than to have her family around for her birthday. Abhishek wanted to invite all her close friends for a party. But Jayaji just wanted to spend the day with her near and dear ones.” Though Jaya’s frail old mother couldn’t be flown into Mumbai from Bhopal, daughter Shweta flew in with the two children Navya Naveli and Agastya. Abhishek and Aishwarya cancelled all their appointments to just spend the day with Jayaji. And yes, Aaradhyaa took centrestage on this special day in her Daadi’s life, and insisted on cutting the cake. “Just to see her three grandchildren together made Jayaji’s birthday special. Navya Naveli and Agastya are so protective of Abhishek and Aishwarya’s daughter Aaradhyaa. They are almost like little guardians to Aaradhyaa,” says a family friend. Jaya spent the day with her two children and three grandchildren. “At least she tried to. Throughout the day there was a barrage of phone calls and messages, and visitors who just dropped in to wish her,” says a family member. “All my loved ones are with me. I couldn’t have hoped for a better gift,” said the ecstatic mother-grandmother Jaya when this writer called to wish her. Incidentally, B R Chopra’s grandchildren who are very close to the Bachchans, offered to host a show of Bhootnath Returns on Jaya’s birthday. The family preferred to be at home on this special day.