Guitarist Ankur Mukherjee is battling for his life in the ICU after suffering a ‘COVID-induced brain stroke’. The 47-year-old musician lost his father to cancer in January this year while his mother too is coronavirus positive and is under home quarantine. Ankur's noted work includes films like Gulabo Sitabo, Andhadhun, Barfi, Lootera, Border, Taare Zameen Par, Dev D, Omkara, Raajneeti among others. His sister Paroma Mukherjee has raised a fundraiser as he is in an induced coma from 16 April and will need medical treatment for which she's trying to raise Rs 70,00,000. Known names like Imtiaz Ali, Malik brothers (Armaan & Amaal Malik) among others have come together to support him.
Taking to social media, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali called Ankur "the best sessions guitarist" he has worked with and asked his followers "to donate and spread the word".Piyush Mishra, known for films like Gangs of Wasseypur and Rockstar, shared Ali's post on his Instagram story. Singer Armaan Malik took to his Twitter account and shared the link to the fundraiser. Armaan's musician-brother Amaal added the fundraiser's link to his Instagram bio. He also posted a picture with Ankur from one of their Guitar sessions and appealed to the music industry to "open their hearts" for his support. He added that Ankur has been a part of "every big song of Bollywood and some of the biggest ad jingles for the biggest composers of this country''. Several celebs have been in the entertainment industry have also suffered from COVID-19. Stars like Ranbir Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Bhumi Pednekar, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal and many others took to their social media handles to inform their fans that they contracted the virus. Recently, Ranbir, Alia, Vicky, Katrina and Bhumi tested negative for the novel coronavirus. However, in Mumbai, a 15-day Janta curfew has been set in place by the state government to curb the rise in COVID cases.