On 27 October, the Bachchans hosted a grand Diwali party at their residence, but the festivities came to a halt in a rather dramatic manner following an unfortunate accident. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s manager, Archana Sadanand, who was also at the party, suffered 22 percent burns after her mulmul dress caught fire.
It was when Archana was saying bye to everyone that her dress came in contact with a diya and caught fire. Kunickaa Sadanand, Archana’s sister-in-law, told The Quint that it was a blessing in disguise that the party was at Jalsa or the injuries could have been fatal. The Bachchans always have an ambulance at Jalsa and Archana Sadanand was attended to immediately by the paramedics and given proper first aid, post which she was rushed to Nanavati Hospital.
“Shah Rukh Khan did throw off his sherwani and intervene to save her, but Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was the real hero in saving Archana. She jumped to douse the fire with her hands and thank god she did.”Kunickaa Sadanand, actor and Archana Sadanand’s sister-in-law
The incident happened at 2:30 am, but Archana Sadanand’s family got to know about it around 4:00 in the morning. Kunickaa Sadanand told The Quint that the Bachchans took care of everything and got the doctors to treat her urgently.
“Thankfully, there’s no damage to the organs and she is healing,” said Kunickaa Sadanand.
Archana Sadanand is said to be recovering now and the doctors will be performing a minor surgery on Friday as well. She has been kept under observation to avoid any risk of infection and is likely to be discharged in about five days.
Sadanand has represented Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for more than a decade and is very close to the Bachchan family.
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