When Shweta Bachchan swore never to become an actor: ‘The words ‘sound, camera, action’ freeze me up’

Defying the general perception about star kids, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan's daughter Shweta Bachchan didn't enter Bollywood, Instead, she chose to run a fashion label and also authored a book.

Amitabh Bachchan's daughter Shweta Bachchan turns 48 today. (Photo: Shweta Bachchan/Instagram)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an actor’s children will be actors or at least involved in the film business in some capacity. Nepotism notwithstanding, there are few who buck this trend. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan’s daughter Shweta Bachchan, who turns 48 today, is among the few who chose to stay away from arc lights. It is not as if she never thought about taking up acting. During her school days, Shweta did think about acting and singing as a child. During her junior school, she thought acting would be an easier option in comparison to picking up any sport or craft.

Writing about the most common question she is often asked, ‘Being Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter, why didn’t you become an actor?’, Shweta earlier shared with DNA that she was cast in her school play only because she was tall. She played a Hawaiian girl who had to do nothing but look pretty and twirl on the stage, “All we had to do was undulate our arms and twirl, looking pretty and most importantly tall.”

Shweta Bachchan with her parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and brother Abhishek Bachchan. (Express Archive Photo)

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But, things didn’t go as planned. Moments before the performance, Shweta’s skirt was “torn right off” and she was the only girl who couldn’t twirl on the stage. She couldn’t remember her “simple single step” and this incident made Shweta swear to “never to get on stage again.”

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Besides the personal experience, the star kid believes “it takes a lot of talent and tenacity to be an actor.” She said she has a “crippling fear of the camera and crowds” and the words, “Start sound, camera, action” freezes her up.

Shweta also addressed how it is not easy to be a successful actor and one requires to make many “personal sacrifices” to reach the zenith of success. She wrote, “It is a tough world and most people do not realise the personal sacrifices made to get to these lofty positions. A lot of my life has been shaped by these very sacrifices made by my parents.”

Shweta Bachchan and her daughter Navya Naveli Nanda (Photo courtesy Amitabh Bachchan’s blog).

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It is this hard truth about the film industry that makes Shweta keep her children, Navya Naveli Nanda and Agastya Nanda, away from showbiz which for her is not an “easy life”. During her appearance on Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan, Shweta had said she has seen hatred that actors are subjected to on social media and the struggle following a box office failure quite closely, hence she would never want any of her family members entering the film industry.

Shweta Bachchan with her brother Abhishek Bachchan. (Photo: Shweta Bachchan/Instagram)

“I see their faces when things don’t work out. I see the kind of hate my brother gets on Instagram. Whether you like him as an actor or you don’t or you think he got it easy because he is Amitabh Bachchan’s son, whatever it is, I’m his sister and I hated it. It gives me sleepless nights. I don’t want another member of my family to be in this business, for my personal selfish reasons,” Shweta told Karan Johar on Koffee With Karan.

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Shweta Bachchan is married to businessman Nikhil Nanda. She runs a fashion label and has authored a book. Her daughter Navya is now an entrepreneur.

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