Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan leaves hospital after recovering from coronavirus
Monday 3 August 2020, 8:32am
Amitabh Bachchan Credit: AP/Press Association Images
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been discharged from a Mumbai hospital after undergoing three weeks of treatment for coronavirus.
The 77-year-old actor tweeted he was back home saying: "I am back home in solitary quarantine."
He also praised "the excelling care and nursing" at the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai, where he was being treated for Covid-19.
Mr Bachchan continued: "Grace of the Almighty, blessings of Ma Babuji, prayers and duas of near and dear & friends fans EF .. and the excellent care and nursing at Nanavati made it possible for me to see this day."
Aishwarya Rai Credit: Myung Jung Kim/PA
His actor son, Abhishek Bachchan, who is still in Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital with the virus, said in a tweet that his father has tested negative and will rest at home.
Both were admitted to hospital on July 11.
Abhishek Bachchan's wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and their eight-year-old daughter, who both also contracted the virus, left the hospital last week after recovering.
The elder Bachchan's breakthrough performance came in the 1973 film Zanjeer, or The Chain, and he rose to superstardom playing bold characters, inspiring fans to copy his hairstyle, clothes and deep voice.
He briefly entered politics in 1985 but resigned his seat in Parliament mid-term when former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's administration became ensnared in corruption.
The Bachchans are often called Bollywood's first family. Amitabh Bachchan's wife Jaya is also an actress and a one-time member of parliament. She was not hit by the coronavirus.
He returned to film in the 1990s and made a rare Hollywood film appearance in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 version of The Great Gatsby.
Health workers prepare to screen for coronavirus in Mumbai Credit: AP
He embraced social media, engaging with fans using Twitter and Tumblr, and served as host of Kaun Banega Crorepati, India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
In 2015, the actor revealed that he had been treated for Hepatitis B for more than two decades and lost more than 75% of his liver to the disease.
Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore are among the Indian cities worst hit by coronavirus.
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