Shweta Bachchan has been 'thwarting' mom Jaya Bachchan's efforts to turn her into a non-vegetarian since childhood

Shweta Bachchan, daughter of superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and sister of Abhishek Bachchan, celebrates her 51st birthday on March 17. She has been a vegetarian thoughout her life and has "thwarted" her mother's efforts to turn her into a non-vegetarian since childhood.

In her column titled Of Being Vegetarian and Still Loving Caviar on NDTV Food in 2017, Shweta wrote,"I am vegetarian, and no one who enjoys food, like a vegetarian. It is a stigma I have been plagued with my entire life. You see I was born vegetarian! My mother says when I first started eating solids as an infant, she mixed my mashed potatoes with chicken stock, and I spat it all up; I have been thwarting her efforts to turn me non-vegetarian ever since."

"There was an episode in my youth where exasperated by my finicky eating habits, whilst on holiday in the States, and growing concern over my nutrition, she passed off a cheeseburger as vegetarian and I lapped it up and asked for seconds! It’s not like I haven’t flirted with the idea of non-vegetarianism but let’s just say it remained that, never culminating into a relationship. I am periodically seduced by a slice of Viande Sêche (a dry cured Swiss meat- it was introduced to me by a senior when I was in boarding school there. It changed my life)", she further added.

Shweta Bachchan is married to Nikhil Nanda, who is the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Escorts Kubota Limited, an Indian multinational engineering conglomerate. They share two children - Agastya Nanda and Navya Nanda. While Navya Nanda is an entreprenuer, Agastya Nanda has followed her maternal grandparents into Bollywood.

Agastya made her acting debut in the teenage musical drama The Archies, which was a direct-to-digital release on Netflix in 2023. The Zoya Akhtar directorial also marked the debuts of Suhana Khan, daughter of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, and Khushi Kapoor, daughter of Boney Kapoor and late Sridevi.

His next film is Ikkis, the biopic of the late Param Vir Chakra awardee Arun Khetarpal. Directed by Sriram Raghavan of Badlapur and Andhadhun-fame, the film was slated to release on January 10 this year but has been postponed. Ikkis also stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Dharmendra in the leading roles.