Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s father Krishnaraj Rai, who was under intensive care at the Lilavati hospital here, passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. Aishwarya’s spokesperson confirmed the news about his demise to IANS. Several Bollywood celebrities were spotted attending the funeral. Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker, Manish Malhotra, Sonali Bendre etc came to pay their last respects to Aishwarya’s father.
According to Lt Gen V Ravishankar, who was treating him at the hospital, he had lymphoma. He was in hospital for over a month. “Mr Rai passed away around 4 p.m. in Lilavati hospital ICU,” Ravishankar told IANS via a message. A Mangalorean, Krishnaraj is survived by his wife, son and daughter. During his stay at the hospital, he was visited by Aishwarya’s in-laws Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. A steady stream of visitors had turned up to pay their visits to the hospital. According to reports, Rai continued to be in a critical state throughout his stay and there was only minor improvement in his condition.
Aishwarya cut short her trip to Dubai as soon as her father was admitted to a hospital in suburban Mumbai. Abhishek Bachchan also rushed back from New York to be by his father-in-law’s side. He was hospitalised a few weeks ago and was later shifted to the ICU. “Aishwarya’s father Krishnaraj Rai passed away at the Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra,” the publicist of the actress told PTI. Krishnaraj Rai is survived by wife Vrinda, son Aditya and daughter Aishwarya.
