Veteran actor Tabassum breathes her last at 78

Mumbai: Veteran actor Tabassum, known for her work as a child artiste in several Hindi classics and as host of the popular 'Doordarshan' talk show 'Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan', died after suffering a cardiac arrest, her son Hoshang Govil said. She was 78. He said his mother had been admitted to a hospital here for the past few days. On November 18, she suffered two cardiac attacks and passed away that night.

"A few days ago, she was admitted to a hospital. She had a gastro problem and we went there for a check-up. She suffered two cardiac attacks at 8:40 pm and 8:42 pm. She passed away peacefully on Friday night," Hoshang told a top news agency.

A prayer meeting in her memory will be held here on the evening of November 21, the family informed. Born in 1944 in Mumbai to Ayodhyanath Sachdev and Asghari Begum, Tabassum started her career as a child artiste with the 1947 movie 'Nargis'.

At that time, she was known in the industry as 'Baby Tabassum' and went on to feature in many other movies, such as 'Mera Suhaag' (1947), 'Manjhdhar' (1947) and 'Bari Behen' (1949). In the 1950s, Tabassum acted in movies such as 'Sargam', 'Sangram', 'Deedar' and 'Baiju Bawra'. She also had a minor role in the 1960 historical epic 'Mughal-e-Azam', starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala.

After a few more films, Tabassum took up the job of host of 'Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan', which was Indian television's first talk show. She emceed the show from 1972 to 1993, during which she interviewed several big stars of the Indian film industry. During her time as the host of 'Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan', Tabassum continued to feature in films, though sporadically. She made her directorial debut with the 1985 feature 'Tum Par Hum Qurban'.

Her last film was Rajesh Khanna and Govinda-starrer 'Swarg' in 1990 in which she made a guest appearance as herself. In the 2000s, she appeared in the daily soap 'Pyaar Ke Do Naam: Ek Raadha, Ek Shyaam'.

Keeping up with the changing world, she launched her own channel on 'YouTube', called 'Tabassum Talkies' with her son Hoshang, where the veteran actor used to discuss the lives of many cinematic figures and movies of the bygone era.

In 2021, Tabassum spent 10 days in the hospital after contracting COVID-19. At the time, her son had dismissed rumours that the veteran actor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Tabassum is survived by her husband Vijay Govil, the elder brother of veteran TV star Arun Govil and son Hoshang.

Celebrities like actors Ranvir Shorey, Deepti Naval, actor turned politician Nagma, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and others paid their tributes to the late veteran actor.