Coronavirus: Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh among Bollywood stars urging fans to stay home

Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan have also called upon their social media followers to comply with curfews in India

Akshay Kumar, centre, was among the stars to appear in a video encouraging fans to stay home

India held the world’s biggest lockdown on Sunday, in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The voluntary Janata curfew called for residents to stay indoors between 7am and 9pm to slow the rise of Covid-19 – but a single day lockdown is not enough to prevent the pandemic.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges residents to practise social distancing or self-quarantining, many of Bollywood's most famous faces have taken to social media to echo his sentiments.

Among them is Good Newwz actor Akshay Kumar, who urged his 34 million Twitter followers to observe the curfew.

"May we all sail through. Stay safe, stay blessed," Kumar, 52, posted. The actor, whose latest film Sooryavanshi has been postponed from release amid the coronavirus crisis, also shared a video in which he appears alongside several other Bollywood actors, pleading for residents to practise health and safety measures.

"Please follow these rules for the safety of yourself and others," Kumar wrote.

The video also starred Ranveer Singh, Amitabh Bachcha and Alia Bhatt, who urged viewers to follow precautions advised by the government.

Singh's wife, Deepika Padukone, has also been sharing snapshots from her daily life as the couple stay home.

Bhatt, 27, further encouraged fans to stay inside on Instagram, posting a selfie on Instagram from lockdown.

"Stay home and ... take selfies cause a little vanity never hurt nobody," the Student of the Year star captioned her post.

Katrina Kaif, meanwhile, shared a video of herself washing dishes, revealing her house helper was in self-isolation.

The actress also shared a screenshot as she video-chatted with Arjun Kapoor and Varun Dhawan, as the trio practised social distancing.

Currently, India has reported nine coronavirus deaths from more than 490 cases, with 35 confirmed recoveries.

All domestic passenger flights in the country will be grounded from Wednesday, March 25 to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the government said yesterday.

India has already banned incoming international flights and sealed most of its land borders, with national and commuter rail services suspended until the end of March.

A number of Bollywood stars also took part in an initiative to celebrate the medical professionals, airports staff, police, armed forces, municipality services and all other essential workers battling the coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday, March 22, people from across India took to their balconies and rooftops at 5pm to applaud, cheer and show their support, with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kartik Aaryan and Padukone among those taking part.

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Read more:

Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone and other Bollywood stars applaud workers following lockdown in India

What are celebrities doing in self-isolation? From Ellen DeGeneres to Akshay Kumar

Bollywood star Kanika Kapoor tests positive for coronavirus

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