Actor Tabassum Govil died of Cardiac arrest at a Mumbai hospital on Friday evening. Her death was confirmed to the media by her son Hoshang Govil in a statement on Saturday. The actor was 78 years old at the time of her death.
Tabassum Govil was married to Vijay Govil, the brother of Arun Govil, the actor best remembered for playing lord Ram in the Doordarshan TV show Ramayana which ran from 1987 to 1988. She also has a granddaughter called Khushi Govil from her son Hoshang.
Her parents were Asghari Begum and Ayodhyanath Sachdev. While Sachdev was a journalist with the Delhi-based newspaper Tej, while her mother Asghari started the magazine Tanveen Monthly in Mumbai, where Sachdev was later transferred. She reportedly also taught Urdu to actor Govinda’s father Arun Ahuja.
“A few days ago, she was admitted to a hospital. She had a gastro problem and we went there for a check-up,” Hoshang Govil told the news agency PTI. “She suffered two cardiac attacks at 8.40 pm and 8.42 pm. She passed away peacefully on Friday night.”
“She was absolutely healthy. We shot for our show 10 days ago. And were about to shoot again next week. It happened all of a sudden,” he added.
She performed as a child actor under the moniker Baby Tabassum in a number of Hindi films during the 1940s and 1950s. She also hosted the children’s programme Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan on Doordarshan (1972-93).
Tabassum made his acting debut in the 1947 Hindi film Nargis. She also appeared in films like Mera Suhaag, Manjhdhar, and Bari Behen, which were released in 1949. Swarg, which came out in 1990, was her last film.
Her net worth is estimated to be around $1.5 million.
