After the success of the first season, Navya Naveli Nanda is back with Season 2 of What The Hell Navya. In the first episode of the podcast, she invited her mother, Shweta Bachchan Nanda, and her grandmother, actress Jaya Bachchan to have a rather uncomfortable but important discussion about women at work and the challenges that come with it. They also delved deep into women being decision-makers in offices and at home.
Jaya Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan discuss women making decisions
While seated on the couch, Navya Naveli Nanda, Jaya Bachchan, and Shweta Bachchan Nanda had a conversation about women without privileges trying to make it big in the world. The thought-provoking talk also came to a point when they shared their opinions on whether women have a say at the table despite them being financially independent.
Shweta starts by saying that she thinks they have a say but that’s not equal enough. To this, the host and her daughter Navya Naveli added, “I have a different theory to that.” According to her, a lot of the decisions that are being made about the home or the family are going to be taken by the women.
“No” was the immediate answer of the senior Bollywood actress. “Because the budget still comes from a man. In a traditional, conventional setup, you have to ask,” says Shweta. When Navya adds that both of them are running the family, Jaya Ji adds, “I don’t have to ask.” She continues, “But I am different. I am privileged. The men in my house don’t think like this.”
Citing examples of women working at offices as clerks, Jaya Bachchan questioned, “Would she have a say?” Her granddaughter responded, “Ya, she probably would.” “No”, was Jaya Ji's instant response to it.
“If it’s a dual-income home? She is putting in as much money?” enquired Shweta. But still, the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani star stuck to her negative response. “She can put in as much money but she doesn’t have (a say.) Because, until and unless we change the mindset of society, this is not going to happen. I am saying, let’s remove the three of us and bring women who are working as clerks and peons and ask them,” she suggested.
Jaya Bachchan reacts to being considered a ‘pop culture phenomenon’
At the start of the debut episode of Season 2, Navya enquires her granny how she feels about being a pop culture phenomenon. To this, Jaya Bachchan responded, “I mean, I don't mind. People making fun of you or laughing at you, I don't mind that. But the people who are doing the memes are so bad, they should do it properly.”
Navya Naveli Nanda opens up about being pressurized for being an actress
Navya also belongs to a family that houses great actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In fact, her brother Agastya Nanda also made his acting debut with Zoya Akhtar’s teen comedy film The Archies. Hence, there is constant pressure on her to become an actress by people who cite how pretty she is.
Opening up about this, the entrepreneur shared, “So, many people are like, ‘Oh you're so pretty. You should be an actress.’ As if beautiful women can only be actresses and only be models. I get that a lot. People always are like, ‘You should become an actress.’”
