- Title: Bollywood's Bachchans battle COVID-19
- Date: 14th July 2020
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MAY 18, 2011) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** AMITABH BACHCHAN WALKING INTO PHOTOCALL AT LAUNCH FOR A VOICE BLOGGING OR "VOGGING" SERVICE CALLED "BACHCHAN BOL" VARIOUS OF AMITABH BACHCHAN DURING PHOTOCALL AMITABH BACHCHAN POSING WITH PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, AMITABH BACHCHAN, ON WHAT LENGTHS FANS HAVE GONE FOR HIM, AFTER ALMOST DYING ON THE SET OF "COOLIES" IN 1982, SAYING: "The most memorable one and the most important as far as I'm concerned would be the time they prayed for me when I was critically ill. I was accidentally hurt during the shooting of a stunt scene for one of my films in 1982 and I almost died. I was in hospital for two months and that is the time the entire country prayed for me and I can never ever forget that moment." VARIOUS AMITABH BACHCHAN POSING WITH PHONE LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JULY 21, 2006) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) AMITABH BACHCHAN STANDING OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT, RECEIVING PRINT OF BRITISH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT SIGNED BY THEN BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 20, 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) AMITABH BACHCHAN WALKING ONTO STAGE TO LOOK AT HIS WAXWORK BACHCHAN WITH WAXWORK BACHCHAN'S HANDS AND WAXWORK HANDS VARIOUS OF BACHCHAN LOOKING AT WAXWORK BACHCHAN GIVING SPEECH VARIOUS OF BACHCHAN SPEAKING TO REPORTERS CANNES, FRANCE (FILE - MAY 19, 2013) (REUTERS) RED CARPET WITH INDIAN ACTRESS AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN ARRIVING AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL BACHCHAN POSING AND WAVING TO PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Embargoed: 28th July 2020 11:37
- Keywords: Abhishek Bachchan Bollywood Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan COVID-19 former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan lockdown the coronavirus
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: India
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA003CMS8LSD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Fans across India prayed on Monday (July 13) for Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and others members of his movie star family who have fallen sick with the coronavirus as the one-day rise in infections hit a new record without any sign of a peak.
Bachchan, 77, and his son, Abhishek, remained in hospital in Mumbai while daughter-in-law and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and his eight-year-old granddaughter, who also tested positive were at home, quarantined.
The Bachchans are the highest-profile Indians to have contracted the virus, which is spreading faster after a months-long lockdown was eased at the end of May to revive a battered economy.
Special Hindu rituals were performed in temples all over India by fans praying for the recovery of an actor adored and respected for a career spanning decades.
"It feels like not only Amitabh Bachchan has fallen sick, but an entire generation has become sick," Vijay Patodia, a member of the All Bengal Amitabh Bachchan Fans' Association, told Reuters in a temple in the eastern city of Kolkata.
A spokeswoman for Nanavati hospital where the father and son are admitted declined any comment, saying the family will provide updates. Bachchan is a prolific Twitter user and had announced his illness on Saturday after he was admitted to hospital.
"Hope he, @juniorbachchan & his family recover from #Covid_19 very soon & released from hospital," @jaikukki tweeted from the United States, along with a video of Bachchan singing a popular hymn.
There was no update from the family or hospital by mid-afternoon on Monday, but health officials had said on Sunday the father and son were stable.
Some people, however, said the Bachchans were privileged to have got top-class treatment immediately while many others struggled with a shortage of hospital beds, medics and medicines in major cities.
"Without any malice for them, and hoping that they get well soon, this only makes many wonder how easily they got beds while regular common ppl are struggling," tweeted @rajneilkamath, a factchecker.
India, along with the United States and Brazil, tops the global caseload of infections. It declared an early lockdown of its 1.3 billion people in March but it has not been able to flatten the curve yet.
Cases of COVID-19 shot past 878,000 with a record 28,701 new infections reported on Monday, even as parts of the country went into fresh lockdowns.
India appears to have fared far better than many places in terms of the ratio of deaths to cases, with the official toll put at 23,174, but some independent observers believe the figures are unreliable as people who die with symptoms are not counted as victims unless they have been tested.
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