Bollywood actor Tabassum Govil, known for playing memorable roles in Bollywood early hits like Deedar (1951) and Bahar (1951) and hosting the Doordarshan show Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1972-93), died of cardiac arrest on Friday evening in Mumbai. Her son Hoshang Govil informed the press about her death today. She was 78 years old.

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“She passed away last night around 8.40 pm due to cardiac arrest at a hospital”, Govil said. “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. 

Her sudden death shocked her family members. 

Who was Tabassum Govil?

Tabassum Govil was born on July 9, 1944, in Mumbai. She acted in several movies in the 1940s and 1950s as a child actor with the name Baby Tabassum. She also hosted the Doordarshan children show Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1972-93).

Tabassum was married to Vijay Govil, the brother of Arun Govil, the actor who played lord Ram in the Doordarshan television show Ramayana (1987-1988). Hoshang Govil is their only son, and she has a grandchild called Khushi Govil. 

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Tabassum debuted in Hindi films as a child actor with the movie Nargis in 1947. In the same year, she also appeared in Mera Suhaag, Manjhdhar, followed by Bari Behen in 1949. Her final movie was in Swarg, which was released in 1990.

Earlier, when the veteran actor was admitted to hospital with Covid 19, rumours saying that she has developed Alzheimer’s started doing rounds. Son Govil had issued a statement then saying it was fake news about the actor. 

“I am disgusted that people can spread her picture and start a rumour that she has Alzheimer’s. This is absolutely fake. She has got no heart disease, no diabetes,” he had said.