Abhishek Bachchan opens up on recovering from COVID-19, having dad Amitabh Bachchan as company in hospital

Actor Abhishek Bachchan has called his father, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, good company to have, sharing that when the father-son duo was hospitalised due to Covid last year, it was wonderful to wake up and go see his father, a 78-year-old back then with severe comorbidities, have the fighting spirit to battle the virus.

"Everybody has their own unique experience with Covid, I think people react to it differently. It was not a nice experience for me because you know I had a family that was inflicted by this as well. If you are in a situation where you are under medical supervision, you are very powerless," said Abhishek, during a social media live motivational podcast with international speaker Anand Chulani.

"Your life is being run by the medical teams so you are not really in control of your faculties in that sense and you don't really have any power over what you do. You are not too sure what is going on as there is a lot of uncertainty about how things are going to pan out. The initial nights when I was in hospital, it was tough to sleep because I didn't know really what awaited me on the other side," Abhishek added.

He stressed that keeping a positive mindset is the only thing that is in one's control and it could get challenging at times.

He said his father got him through his sleepless nights: "Initially, my father and I were in the hospital together. A week later my wife and daughter were hospitalised. Thankfully, they only had to be there for about a week then they came out, and my dad and I stayed on for a bit longer because we hadn't tested negative."

"Well, he is good company to have, so it was wonderful to wake up and go see my father who last year was 78 years old, a man with severe comorbidities but him being positive and having that fighting spirit to get through this."

Abhishek added, "At that point of time my energies were obviously directed towards him and him becoming better because you fear for your parents, it's actually of a sensitive age group."

Seeing Big B's fighting spirit was inspirational to Abhishek. "I mean he is also a great friend of mine, so it was good to shoot the breeze with him and you know when you are a COVID patient although you can interact with other patients, there is nothing else to do, you just have to wait around. So, there was some good banter that went on, I mean he is a good roomy in that sense," he said.

Reflecting on how Covid has shaped his life, he said he is the same person and he would like to believe that even in times like these he always stays positive.

"The one thing that the last one year has taught me is you got to value your relationship and value the fact that you have a happy and healthy family around you. There was a point in time I was frustrated during the lockdown but then my wife put things into perspective for me and told me how for the first time in many years I could sit back, not be working round the clock and enjoy the company of my family in the safety of my home. That by itself, is a blessing," he added.