COVID Sweeps Bollywood's 'First Family'

Amitabh Bachchan, 3 family members test positive
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 12, 2020 8:54 AM CDT
COVID Sweeps Bollywood's 'First Family'
In this 2013, file photo, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan attends a promotional event for his upcoming movie "Satyagraha" in New Delhi, India. Bachchan has tested positive for COVID-19 and hospitalized in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital.   (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal, File)

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, his son, and two other family members have tested positive for the coronavirus in Mumbai, reports the AP. The Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital said that Amitabh Bachchan was in stable condition with mild symptoms in an isolation unit. Bachchan, 77, said in a tweet Saturday that he had tested positive and appealed to those who were in close proximity to him in the past 10 days to get themselves tested. His son, Abhishek Bachchan, 44, tweeted Saturday night that he also had tested positive and was in a hospital. “Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to the hospital,” he wrote. “I request all to stay calm and not panic.” Maharashtra state Health Minister Rajesh Tope tweeted Sunday that Abhishek Bachchan's wife, top Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and their 8-year-old daughter had also tested positive.

Tope didn't say whether Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya were quarantined at home or hospitalized. The elder Bachchan has acted in more than 200 Indian films over the past five decades, and is also a former politician and a TV host. The Bachchans are often called Bollywood’s first family. His wife, Jaya, is also an actress and a one-time member of Parliament. The Press Trust of India news agency cited Tope as saying Amitabh Bachchan and his son had a cough and fever. "They underwent rapid antigen test and (results) came positive,'' he said. Since Amitabh Bachchan is comorbid, he got himself admitted to the hospital. He has served as host of “Kaun Banega Crorepati," India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

(More Bollywood stories.)

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