Veteran actor and politician Jaya Bachchan is celebrating her 73rd birthday today. On her special day, let us take a look at her relationship with her daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Many are aware that Aishwarya and Jaya do not indulge in social media PDA often and that is why fans are always eager to hear more about what they feel about each other.

There have been a lot of times that Jaya, who maintains a serious persona in public, has spoken highly of her Aishwarya, even making a joke at her expense. There are several instances where Jaya showered Aishwarya with love and praised her for her values. 

A few days before Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan’s wedding in 2007, Jaya presented an award at the Filmfare Awards. While on stage, Jaya welcomed Aishwarya to the family. 

She said, “I am going to be a mother-in-law all over again to a wonderful, lovely girl who has great values, has great dignity, and a lovely smile. I welcome you to the family, I love you.” Aishwarya was moved to tears after listening to Jaya speak. 

In another instance, during an episode of ‘Koffee With Karan’, Jaya spoke highly of Aishwarya as her ‘bahu’. 

She had said, “I think its wonderful because she is such a big star herself. But when we all are together, I have never ever seen her push herself, I like that quality that she stands behind, she’s quiet, she listens and she’s taking it all in. Another beautiful thing is she’s fitted in so well. Not just into the family, but she knows that this is family, these are good friends, this is how one is supposed to be. I think she’s a strong lady, she has a lot of dignity.”

Not only this, Jaya had once also cracked a funny joke about Aishwarya during a radio interview. Speaking about her granddaughter Aaradhya, Jaya said, “I think that Aishwarya does a very good job of the hands-on mummy. And sometimes I tease her and say Aaradhya is a very lucky girl — can you imagine having a nurse like Miss World Aishwarya.”