Mumbai: Celebrated playback singer Asha Bhosle’s daughter Varsha Bhosle, in her mid-50s, committed suicide by shooting herself in the head at their Pedder Road flat in South Mumbai around noon today.
The veteran singer, who had gone to Singapore for a Marathi film festival, is rushing back to the city.
Her daughter was found on the couch in the living room after neighbours who heard the sound of the gun shot rang her doorbell and then had to break open her door. Police, who arrived immediately, said there was no suicide note found in the flat. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead. Her body will be taken to J J Hospital for a post mortem.
She used a licensed revolver belonging to the family to kill herself. Apparently suffering from depression for long, she had attempted suicide in September 2008 by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills. She was then hospitalized and saved. She is said to have attempted suicide in 2012, too.
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, Asha’s elder sister, lives in a flat in the same building, Prabhu Kunj. The entire area was cordoned off following the incident and people were restricted from going near the place.
Varsha was a freelance writer and had worked as a columnist for The Sunday Observer and Rediff. In a tribute to her, Rediff wrote on its website, “Varsha Bhosle, who tragically ended her life on Monday morning, may be known to the world as singer Asha Bhosle’s only daughter, but she had her own identity, of a hugely popular columnist for Rediff.com.”
The web portal described her as unabashedly right of centre but at the same time she tore into the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s argument for banning beef.
“Her final column Ab Ki Baari Atal Bihari appeared more than nine years ago. But she remains in our hearts as well as in the hearts of her readers who are legion. We will always miss you, Varsha!”
Varsha had also worked as a playback singer in some Hindi and Marathi movies and appeared in concerts with her mother. The second of Asha’s three children, Varsha had lived alone in the same locality but had recently been living in her mother’s home. She was divorced from freelance sports writer Hemant Kenkre.
Varsha completed her schooling from Hill Grange High School on Pedder Road, Mumbai, in 1974 and studied at Elphinstone College affiliated to Mumbai University
The veteran singer, who had gone to Singapore for a Marathi film festival, is rushing back to the city.
Her daughter was found on the couch in the living room after neighbours who heard the sound of the gun shot rang her doorbell and then had to break open her door. Police, who arrived immediately, said there was no suicide note found in the flat. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead. Her body will be taken to J J Hospital for a post mortem.
She used a licensed revolver belonging to the family to kill herself. Apparently suffering from depression for long, she had attempted suicide in September 2008 by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills. She was then hospitalized and saved. She is said to have attempted suicide in 2012, too.
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, Asha’s elder sister, lives in a flat in the same building, Prabhu Kunj. The entire area was cordoned off following the incident and people were restricted from going near the place.
Varsha was a freelance writer and had worked as a columnist for The Sunday Observer and Rediff. In a tribute to her, Rediff wrote on its website, “Varsha Bhosle, who tragically ended her life on Monday morning, may be known to the world as singer Asha Bhosle’s only daughter, but she had her own identity, of a hugely popular columnist for Rediff.com.”
The web portal described her as unabashedly right of centre but at the same time she tore into the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s argument for banning beef.
“Her final column Ab Ki Baari Atal Bihari appeared more than nine years ago. But she remains in our hearts as well as in the hearts of her readers who are legion. We will always miss you, Varsha!”
Varsha had also worked as a playback singer in some Hindi and Marathi movies and appeared in concerts with her mother. The second of Asha’s three children, Varsha had lived alone in the same locality but had recently been living in her mother’s home. She was divorced from freelance sports writer Hemant Kenkre.
Varsha completed her schooling from Hill Grange High School on Pedder Road, Mumbai, in 1974 and studied at Elphinstone College affiliated to Mumbai University
