Bollywood Star Aishwarya Rai Discharged from Virus Ward

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (AFP)
Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (AFP)
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Bollywood Star Aishwarya Rai Discharged from Virus Ward

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (AFP)
Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (AFP)

Bollywood star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter have been discharged from a Mumbai hospital where they were being treated for coronavirus, her actor husband Abhishek Bachchan said Monday.

The pair were admitted to hospital a week ago, several days after Abhishek and his superstar father Amitabh Bachchan, making the family the highest-profile people to contract the virus in India, which has recorded more than 1.4 million cases.

"Aishwarya and Aaradhya have thankfully tested negative and have been discharged from the hospital. They will now be at home," her husband tweeted, thanking fans for "continued prayers and good wishes".

"My father and I remain in hospital under the care of the medical staff," he added.

The actress and her eight-year-old daughter Aaradhya were initially quarantining at home before being moved to the same hospital where her 77-year-old father-in-law and his son are being treated for the illness.

She won the Miss World crown in 1994 and has since become one of the most famous faces in Bollywood and a regular on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

The elder Bachchan and 44-year-old Abhishek are both in the hospital's isolation ward.

No health update has been issued since they were admitted more than two weeks ago but Amitabh, an avid social media user, has been dispensing regular messages to his millions of fans on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

A blog entry posted on Saturday touched on the mental trauma and stigma suffered by coronavirus patients, referring to "the stark reality that the COVID patient, put in hospitalized isolation, never gets to see another human".

Recovered patients "are afraid to be in public for fear or apprehension of being treated differently .. treated as one that has carried the disease .. a pariah syndrome .. driving them into deeper depression", he wrote.

The elder Bachchan, idolized in India and affectionately known as "Big B", has worked for more than half a century in the film industry.

He was voted "actor of the millennium" in a BBC online poll in 1999 and became the first Indian actor to be showcased at London's Madame Tussauds waxworks museum.

Mumbai, India's financial and film capital, has now recorded over 100,000 cases, with more than 6,000 deaths attributed to the virus.



Saudi Film Commission Participates in South Korea’s Busan Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission logo
The Saudi Film Commission logo
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Saudi Film Commission Participates in South Korea’s Busan Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission logo
The Saudi Film Commission logo

The Saudi Film Commission announced its participation in the prestigious Busan International Film Festival 2024, taking place from October 2-11 in Busan, South Korea.

As one of Asia's most prominent film festivals and a key global film market, the festival showcases a variety of narrative and documentary films. The festival is also known for discovering and promoting emerging talents from Asia.

The Film Commission’s participation aims to foster stronger cultural and cinematic ties between Saudi Arabia and South Korea while promoting creative collaboration. It will highlight Saudi Arabia as a prime location for film production, showcase the commission’s diverse programs, promote Saudi talents and films, and facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge in the global film industry.

The Film Commission will host a dedicated pavilion at the festival on October 5-8 featuring a Saudi delegation of partners from the Kingdom’s film sector. The presence will serve to build sustainable relationships with South Korean film industry leaders and facilitate collaboration in film production and distribution. Furthermore, the pavilion will act as a networking hub, enabling the commission to strengthen connections with international film industry experts attending the festival.

Through its participation in the Busan International Film Festival 2024, the Film Commission seeks to highlight Saudi Arabia’s growing role in the global cinematic landscape, position the Kingdom as an attractive destination for film production, and demonstrate its ongoing commitment to participating in major international film events. By establishing strategic partnerships with global entities, the commission continues to enhance Saudi Arabia’s stature in the world of film.