Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan said Sunday he had been discharged from hospital, three weeks after being admitted with “mild” coronavirus symptoms after testing positive for the disease.
Bachchan’s actor-son Abishek, who was admitted at the same time, will remain in hospital, while his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai and granddaughter Aaradhya were discharged last week.
They were the highest-profile family in India to contract the virus in a country that worships movie stars.
“I am back home. I will have to be in solitary quarantine in my room,” Bachchan wrote on Instagram, saying he had tested negative.
He thanked his family, fans “and the excellent care and nursing” at the hospital, saying they “made it possible for me to see this day”.
Bachchan, 77, idolised in India and affectionately known as “Big B”, has worked for more than half a century in the film industry.
His release from hospital was cheered by his legion of fervent fans.
Hundreds of them gathered at the Amitabh Bachchan Temple — built by his fans in the city in 2001 and which has a life-size statue of the revered celebrity — in Kolkata on Sunday.
“Amitabh is our ‘guru’. He is more than god to us,” Amitabh Bachchan Fan Association secretary Sanjoy Patodiya told AFP on Sunday ahead of the actor’s announcement.
“His fans are spending sleepless nights praying that their god gets well soon.”
