Mumbai, Nov 19: Veteran actor Tabassum Govil, known for her work as a child artiste in several Hindi classics and also as host of popular Doordarshan talk show "Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan", has died after suffering a cardiac arrest, her son Hoshang Govil said on Saturday. She was 78.

Govil said his mother had been admitted to a hospital here for the past few days. On Friday, she suffered two cardiac attacks and passed away the night.


"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 8.40 pm and 8.42 pm. She passed away peacefully on Friday night," Hoshang told PTI.

A prayer meeting in her memory will be held here Monday evening, 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 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 the 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 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".

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

In 2021, Tabassum spent 10 days in 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.

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Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.

The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.

"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.

Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.

He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.

Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.

The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.

Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.

He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.