Vikram Bhatt's mother, Varsha Bhatt passes away at 85

Mumbai, Sep 6 (IANS) Director-producer Vikram Bhatt’s mother, Varsha Bhatt passed away at the age of 85 on Saturday. She was said to be suffering from prolonged illness, and had been unwell for sometime.

She reportedly suffered multiple organ failure. She was also the wife of cinematographer Pravin Bhatt. Her cremation will be held at the Versova crematorium at 2:00 pm on Saturday with family members in presence. Her demise was confirmed by the director’s team.

Her son Vikram joined the industry at the age of 14, when he assisted director Mukul Anand in the latter’s debut film, ‘Kanoon Kya Karega’. He also directed ‘Ghulam’ starring Aamir Khan. The film was declared a hit, as it raked in INR 242 million.

In 2008, he came back with the horror genre and he delivered three films that were successful at the box office; these include ‘1920’, ‘Shaapit’ and ‘Haunted – 3D’. In 2010, Vikram introduced stereoscopic 3D for the first time in India with his film ‘Haunted – 3D’ the film was released in May 2011 and it then set the record of the highest grossing Hindi horror film of all time, making INR 270 million at the box office.

Vikram’s daughter Krishna has become part of movies as a director. In fact, when Vikram made her debut in movies with Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt, many believed that he was related to them but there is no blood relation between them.

Varsha Bhatt, though away from the limelight, remained a strong pillar behind the scenes for Vikram’s family.

Vikram was in fact gearing up for his upcoming movie 'Haunted: Ghosts of the Past'. He had earlier spoken about his style of horror. Vikram is known for his expertise in the horror genre, and has directed several hit horror franchise films, such as 'Raaz', '1920', and 'Haunted'.

--IANS

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