Why didn't Amitabh Bachchan marry Rekha?

 Because, he was married to Jaya and was the father of her kids - Shweta and Abhishek.

Rekha, Amitabh and Jaya in “Silsila”

Amitabh and Jaya’s marriage was not an arranged marriage. Amitabh and Jaya were in love since the time Amitabh saw Jaya on the set of film “Guddi”.

Amitabh at that time was a struggling actor trying to make his mark in the film industry while Jaya was an established star.

No one including Amitabh knew about the future of his movie carrier. Most of the people had written him off as his films flopped one after the other - almost a dozen films performed poorly at the box office before he could find success with iconic “Zanjeer”.

During his struggle phase, Jaya was a huge support for Amitabh. She adored him and loved him. During shooting of the film “Bawarchi”, Rajesh Khanna, who was reining superstar at that time asked his co-star, Jaya Bhaduri - why is she wasting time on a person like Amitabh who seems to have no future in the film industry?

To which Jaya replied angrily - One day, Amitabh will be much more successful and bigger star than you.

Jaya’s words were so prophetic. Amitabh rose in stardom while Rajesh Khanna became a flop star in late 70s.

In Zanjeer (1973), when no established actress was willing to work with Amitabh considering that he was a newcomer, Jaya agreed to work as heroine of Amitabh in the movie. The point is Jaya has done a lot for Amitabh. She is not just a wife but a friend and a support system as well.

Year 1975 brought enormous success to Amitabh as his two movies Sholay and Deewar became box office blockbusters and went on to achieve legendary status in future.

Amitabh had arrived; there was no one who could challenge Amitabh in second half of the seventies.

This was the time when Amitabh met Rekha on the set of movie “Do Anjaane” (1976).

It was mutual love and they started meeting each other in private. This has been confirmed by many of Rekha’s co-stars and directors.

Actor Ranjeet said that Rekha wanted her evenings free while shooting a movie with him as she wanted to spend evening time with Amitabh.

Director Yash Chopra also confirmed in an interview that Amitabh and Rekha were in a relationship before “Silsila”

Rekha herself admitted her love for Amitabh in numerous interviews.

Though Amitabh never accepted the relationship publicly as he was married to Jaya all this while.

Rekha said that he did what he had to do to protect his image and his family.

Also, Amitabh owes a lot to Jaya as she was the one who believed in him in his early years when everyone else was sceptical of Amitabh’s acting prowess.

If we closely observe Amitabh, he has been a very cautious and risk averse person in his entire life. He doesn't go to the extremes. He has this inclination for stability, status quo and settlement.

When Amitabh was threatened by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for his alleged involvement in Bofors scam, he went to Matoshree (Thakeray’s abode) for Thackeray’s blessings.

Bal Thackeray and Amitabh Bachchan

When Jaya Bachchan said - Gandhi family betrayed us, Amitabh immediately issued a statement that Gandhis are kings and Bachchans are subjects, how can they be friends.

Amitabh doesn't like confrontation; he always goes for the compromise and tries to resolve the matter then and there itself.

With Rekha, he again chose the same path - path of stability, status quo and continuity of his marriage with Jaya.

He is not a person who will go to extreme length for his political ideology or for his love for that matter.

He will always take a U-turn if going becomes tough.

Same thing he did in politics. The moment his name cropped up in Bofors scandal and he was subjected to media scrutiny, he decided to withdraw from politics for ever. He didn't fight it out while being there in the political system. He chose to exit while his best friend Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister at that time.

Rajiv Gandhi and Amitabh

With Rekha, he went ahead as he loved her but he didn't want to divorce Jaya and make their children’s life difficult. He wanted to come across as a family man who respected his parents, loved his kids and got along with his wife.

Given the situation and his mental makeup, eventually he didn't marry Rekha.

Was Nandini married to Chandragupta?

 

Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya with help of Parvatak and after great efforts had successfully captured Patliputra.

After Dhan Nanda pleaded mercy to Chanakya, he allowed him to leave with his important things for his sustenance which his one chariot could hold.

Nanda took his two wives, a daughter and loading his chariot with treasures he left the city.

When the family met Chandragupta Maurya on the road, the daughter of Nanda sitting in the chariot fell instantly in love with Chandragupta at first sight (probably due to his handsome appearance). With her side glances, it looked like she was infatuated with him.

Nanda allowed her to choose her own husband as Swayamvar was considered befitting of a princess.

She left her father's chariot and ran towards Chandragupta’s chariot. When she put her foot on his chariot, nine spokes of a wheel broke.

Angry Chandragupta shouted “Who is this inauspicious woman trying to climb my chariot?” He forbade her to climb his chariot.

But Chanakya told him to stop her and not think the accident as a bad omen but an auspicious one. It meant his dynasty would run for nine generations.

So, after Chanakya told him this, he (half heartedly) accepted the Nanda Princess.

Source - Parishisth Parvan

The story seems a little dramatic and it might be possible that after the conquest of Magadha, Chanakya advised him to marry a daughter of Nanda. The daughter unable to change her fate and founding the new King good looking didn't have much problem in accepting the new reality but Chandragupta had his doubts. But ultimately Chanakya convinced him to marry her for the good of his dynasty.

The Princess is mentioned as ‘Nand Nandini and ‘Nand Duhita’ and this might be the reason for this Nandini name but it wasn't a name, both terms means daughter of Nanda. The name of daughter of Nanda is not mentioned by Hemachandra, author of Parishisth Parvan.

The aftermath of their marriage is not mentioned in the source, there is no mention of his conflict with anyone of his queens. So, it might had been a tolerable marriage for the couple if not a very loving one.

Marriage MATERIAL or a LIVEly Daughter??

Ever since I have started working in a government organization, people around me keep saying, "your prospects of getting married to a nice guy are brighter and better now " I always feel like laughing at this illogical statement and I fail to understand why a job or its type is linked to marriage in India, more importantly, why is every fucking thing treated as an eligibility criteria for being an ideal marriage material for Indian girls? Right from her looks to her education, right from her health to her job, everything perhaps has one primary objective- to make her eligible for getting married, to make her perfect in every sense, not with an intention to teach her how to be a good citizen/woman/daughter/wife/mother, but with a fear in their minds, a fear that one day she has to get married and her future in laws expect her to be perfect!!

Confused?? Read the following points one by one, please note that every word is TRUE and REAL

• She is a school kid, like all kids of her age ,she loves playing and watching TV much more than cooking and other household chores, but her mother always tells her that if she does not learn how to cook ,she will be in deep trouble after she gets married, in fact ,this would act as a hindrance in their path to find a suitable match for her.. Why do we have to teach our kids in such a fashion that inculcates fear in them, that makes them feel scared of marriage and in laws at the age when they don't even know what marriage is? Why can't we simply tell them that they ought to learn things for their own good ?
• She is a bright student. She has always been a hard working and sincere girl. However, one fine day, when she could not score well in an exam, her mother warned her about competition for jobs , telling her that everyone 'asks' and 'demands' for working women these days..People say that nowadays parents consider education of their daughters as important as education for their sons, the exact reason lies in the previous statement! Why do we have to associate every damn thing about a girl's life with her marriage? Doesn't she have her own ambitions? Shouldn't we ask her to work hard and be independent? Perhaps her own ambitions don't exist for all those people who think she should work only to meet the 'demands' of people looking for a working wife for their sons!
• She was a lively,bubbly college kid, she never cared about what others thought of her, her friends used to call her 'fatty' for she was slightly overweight, it never affected her much! One fine day , her mother told her, " Nobody would marry you if you continue to gain weight like this" and that was the first time when she was affected by a comment! Why can't we ask our daughters to take care of their own health and fitness in the first place? Isn't her well being important otherwise? Why is her being perfectly eligible for marriage more important than her being perfectly fit and fine? Aren't we responsible for making them feel confident ?
• She was a talented, creative fashion designer working for a boutique ,she wanted to have her own startup, but her family insisted that she should think of getting married now for she was 25 already! Why is society's pressure valued more than a girl's dreams and plans? Doesn't she have a right to be ambitious? Who makes these ridiculous rules? 

A mother can never even think of doing something that makes her daughter sad, yet,without realizing the emotional and psychological impact of all these things on her daughter, she continues to do so..why? The answer is simple. Indian parents are the victims of Indian society, they can't stand their daughters being not suitable in the eyes of the society! Sadly, even TV serials and movies promote the same culture, the same ideologies that preach that a girl's life is all about one major life event- marriage and her parents ought to prepare her for that right from the day she is born.

Marriage, undoubtedly , is like the biggest turning point in a person's life! But why do we expect a person to be perfect when we think of getting married? I find it incomprehensibly difficult to believe that people totally forget things like compatibility and mutual understanding! The irony is that they fail to realize that they are looking for a daughter-in-law, who is a human being, with her own flaws, her own qualities, her own beliefs, they are not going to buy a product with desirable configurations and specifications!

The message is simple and is dedicated to all Indian parents with an intention to make them understand something very important. She has her own life, her own identity! She doesn't deserve to be treated like a commodity in a market of cut throat competition! She deserves to be respected!
Love her, care for her , make her feel confident , make her feel beautiful, ask her to respect herself, teach her to love herself the way she is! Ask her to explore the whole world, teach her to be bold, be optimistic! Let her be free, let her discover herself, let her dream, let her aspire, let her strive for success, let her smile, let her be !