Following Bollywood actor Deepoika Padukone admission about her battle with depression, Mahesh Bhatt opened up about daughter Shaheen Bhatt’s mental illness, Pinkvilla reported. The veteran Bollywood filmmaker, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming film ‘The Dark Side of Life: Mumbai City’, talked about the rampant issue of depression and the growing cases of suicide in India. Citing the example of daughter Shaheen, the director said, “It’s a form of mental illness and it can be treated. When you suffer with diabetes then, you have to take insulin shots. Similarly, when you are prone towards depression then you need to consult a doctor who can treat you through medication but, I think in our country, we are lacking in generating awareness about mental illness. Almost in every household people are suffering from depression.” Giving the example of his own daughter Shaheen Bhatt, the filmmaker shared, “My daughter Shaheen, Alia’s elder sister, she, at the age of 16 discovered finally that she is suffering from clinical depression. In October, she is launching her own memoir in which she has talked about the kind of struggle she has gone through in that phase.” But not just this because Bhatt saab revealed that Shaheen was at the point where she thought about committing suicide. “She also came to a point of attempting a suicide at the age of 12-13 so this is the truth of my own house,” revealed the filmmaker. Published in Daily Times, September 13th 2018.