A still from Qubool Hai 2.0

Shooting for the Zee5 series was not all roses for the actor — on wrapping up the last leg of shooting in Serbia in early January, he tested positive for COVID-19. “We were shooting in zero degrees, and in a particular scene, I was not wearing a jacket. So, I was down with fever for a day. Two days later when we were to go back home, the unit had to do the mandatory testing before flying out. When the test results came, I was diagnosed with the virus. I didn’t show any symptoms except that I had lost my sense of smell for three days. So, I had to stay back till January 9.”

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As he fought the infection, the news took an emotional toll on his wife, actor Bipasha Basu. “Bipasha was devastated; she is strong, but she gets scared when it comes to the health of her loved ones. Often, she doesn’t take care of herself, but wants to make sure everyone around her is okay. So, my diagnosis hit her worse than me,” he remembers.

If the pandemic had brought the world to a standstill last year, it also made us reassess our life decisions and priorities. For Grover, a significant fallout of the pandemic was leaving Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2, a show that saw him take centrestage as Mr Bajaj. The actor decided against shooting in the new normal when the unit of the Ekta Kapoor show resumed work. “I didn’t want to go [on a set] and expose my loved ones to a virus that has affected the world so badly. So, I have not done a lot of work because of the current scenario. You have to work for a living, but you can’t do it at the cost of risking your family. I loved the character, the story and of course, Ekta, but we must prioritise our wants.”