Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda’s podcast What the Hell Navya? has brought three generations of Bachchan women — Jaya Bachchan, Shweta Bachchan and Navya herself — together for candid conversations on dating, parenting and career choices. The 24-year-old’s podcast, six episodes of which are available on Spotify and Google Podcast, offers an interesting peek into the Bachchan family dynamics and how the three ladies share a special bond as they learn to see the world through each other’s lens. Here are some of the highlights of the podcast and conversations that are winning hearts.
Who is Navya?
In the words of her mom Shweta, “Navya is an ambitious girl” and a “caffeine addict who is hell-bent on changing the world”. Unlike her younger brother Agastya, who is set to make his acting debut in Zoya Akhtar’s upcoming Netflix film The Archies, Navya has found her calling in addressing the lags in menstrual healthcare in particular and women’s health at large. Navya is the co-founder of Aara Health, an Instagram-based healthcare page for women.
Shweta is the love of Jaya Bachchan’s life
Actress-turned-politician Jaya revealed in the first episode of the podcast that her first-born Shweta is “the love” of her life. The 48-year-old mother of two, who is also the author of the novel Paradise Towers, has a cheeky side to her. “For someone who’s a very tiny little thing, you pack a lot of punch, mother,” said Shweta, leaving Jaya and Navya in splits.
In the second episode ‘Girl Besties: Almost Therapy’, Jaya talks about how her friends appreciate the Bachchan family dynamic. “I must tell you that you don’t know how they appreciate, you know, seeing us all together, seeing the grandchildren sitting with my friends. For them, it’s very refreshing to see Shweta cooking things for them, Agasyta will breeze in and say hi, Abhishek will come and say, ‘Hello ladies’,” she said.
The veteran actress also took a moment to talk about Amitabh Bachchan. “He has changed. Now he’s old. I suppose you know you can be older old and you can be old but not old,” she said.
Jaya Bachchan’s dating advice: Marry your best friend
In the sixth episode ‘Modern Love: Romance & Regrets’, Navya asks for her grandmother’s opinion on modern romance. Jaya’s advice, in this day of “Instagrammy romance”, is to “marry your best friend”.
“You should discuss and say ‘okay, maybe I'd like to have a child with you because I like you. I think you're nice, so let's get married because that's what society is saying’. I mean, I have no problem if you have a child without a marriage also,” says the cool grandmom.
Navya also reveals her grandmother’s love for Turkish TV shows and how both of them streamed the soap operas throughout the lockdown.
Desi Parenting: Slaps & Kisses
Jaya revealed in the podcast that she followed the old-school approach towards parenting in which both Shweta and Abhishek would get reprimanded with slaps at times.
“She was very free with her slaps. I got slapped a lot and once the ruler also broke on me,” Shweta said in the third episode ‘Desi Parenting: Slaps & Kisses’. Shweta also talked about her father’s stand on this. “He (Amitabh Bachchan) was against it (hitting), never ever in my life has he ever. His maximum punishment was to (make us) stand in the corner.”
When asked about her parenting styles, Shweta said that she disagreed with the parenting style of the previous generations. “I feel that my kids should definitely have their own mind, and they should not be afraid to express it. I don’t have this thing of not praising my kids on their face. That’s something I just don't understand about the previous generation.”
The women take a deep dive into the paparazzi culture in the fifth episode where Jaya reveals that she absolutely hates it. Shweta has a more dynamic approach, talking about how her father got her accustomed to living in the limelight. Navya also talks about privilege, explaining how her family name has helped her talk about taboo topics surrounding women’s healthcare with a bigger platform.
