Ahead of the release of her debut novel Paradise Towers, Shweta Bachchan Nanda speaks to Subhash K Jha on her parents, sibling and life in general.


"Knowing the family the way I do, I always saw Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan's daughter Shweta as  the  true inheritor of her grandparents' legacy.


Shweta's paternal grandfather was the legendary writer-poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, while their maternal grandfather was the renowned journalist Taroon Kumar Bhaduri.


When I tell Shweta that she is carrying  her grandfathers' legacy ahead she replies, "I  aspire to. My novel is called Paradise  Towers and will be out in October." The publisher is HarperCollins India.


In an earlier interview to me Shweta had said that most of the decisions in her life have been emotional. "I've always been devoted to family and friends. There has never been a career plan, nor did I plan to walk the ramp or do a TV stint. Everything has happened spontaneously in my life, I've never planned anything," she had said. 


Amitabh Bachchan had told me, "Shweta is the most intelligent and balanced Bachchan. She's very objective in assessment of situations. Whenever we reach a dead-end during a family discussion we call up Shweta and put her on conference call. We always keep going back to her for her opinion. Her intelligence comes through on her show. Shweta is a voracious reader."


Shweta was never interested in being an actress, Bachchan had said. In fact she was never interested in accompanying him to shootings and film events as a child. Abhishek, On the other hand, would always accompany his father everywhere. "I think Shweta was a little shy and scared of events," Bachchan said.


But she has always watched her father's films. Her favourite? "It's the comic, light-hearted films from the 1970s like Naseeb and Amar Akbar Anthony." she said.


On her  mother Jaya'a decision to quit her career at  its peak, Shweta says, "It isn't for me to comment on what she did. Everyone makes their own decisions. I'm sure she was a 100 per cent convinced about what she was doing," she says.


On brother Abhishek, Shweta said she was always proud of him even when he was struggling. "He had to wait for his career to come together, and it wasn't easy. He handled himself with dignity," she said.