The Patel household is in a state of shock. Ameesha and Ashmit Patel lost their paternal grandmother on Thursday night. Ameesha's grandmother Susheela Patel breathed her last at 10.30 pm, after suffering from a prolonged illness. The entire family rushed the next morning to attend to her last rites.

Ameesha was very close to her grandmother. She used to spend a lot of quality time with her and would often take her out too. Having suffered from a chequered equation with her parents, whom she once accused of embezzling her career earnings, Ameesha was rather close to her grandmother.

Her patch-up with her parents last December could well have been her grandmother's doing. This therefore is a big loss for the actor.

Her sibling, a grieving Ashmit Patel, said, "She had been bedridden for the past couple of years due to a car accident she suffered in 2005. She was extremely alert, intuitive and full of life. In her last 10 days, she suffered a lot.

But she passed away peacefully on Thursday night. She was very close both to my sister and me. It's quite a shock for us. More so for my sister because she had taken care of her single-handedly for the past five-six years."

Incidentally Ameesha was shooting in Hyderabad for a Telegu film when she heard the news. She rushed to Pune immediately to attend to the last rites, accompanied with her recently-reconciled mother.

- The Times of India