Veteran actor and India's first celebrity talk show host, Tabassum Govil, dies at 78

Govil suffered two cardiac arrests on Friday

Veteran Bollywood actor and host of India's first celebrity talk show, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan, Tabassum Govil, died after suffering two cardiac arrests on Friday. Her son Hoshang Govil announced the tragic news on on Saturday. Tabassum was 78.

Hoshang said his mother had been admitted to the hospital for the past few days. However, she suffered two cardiac attacks on Friday night that took her life.  “Few days ago, she was admitted to a hospital. She had gastro problem and we went there for check-up. She suffered two cardiac attacks at 8.40pm and 8.42pm. She passed away peacefully on Friday night,” Hoshang told Press Trust of India.

Many from the Indian film fraternity have been mourning Tabassum’s passing. Karan Johar, in particular, revealed that he wanted to “be Tabassum” in his childhood. The My Name Is Khan director told ETimes, “She is an icon for me from my childhood. Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan was the first chat show that I ever saw. It had me mesmerized. I would wait patiently by my black and white TV set to watch the enigmatic Tabassum ji with her signature red rose beautifully completing her look and aura. When my father asked me what do I want to become when I grow up, I said I want to become Tabassum.”

Born in 1944 in Mumbai, Tabassum started her career as a child artiste with the 1947 movie Nargis. She became popular as ‘Baby Tabassum’ and went on to feature in many other films including Mera Suhaag (1947), Manjhdhar (1947) and Bari Behen (1949). In the 1950s, she starred in Sargam, Sangram, Deedar, and Baiju Bawra. She also played a minor role in the 1960 period film Mughal-e-Azam, starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. After a few more films,

Tabassum began hosting with India’s first talk show, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan, which ran for 21 years from 1972 to 1993. Tabassum interviewed a range of stars while also featuring in films now and then.

She made her directorial debut with 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 daily soap Pyaar Ke Do Naam: Ek Raadha, Ek Shyaam.

In 2021, Tabassum spent 10 days in hospital after contracting Covid-19. She is survived by her husband Vijay Govil, the elder brother of veteran TV star Arun Govil, and son Hoshang.

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