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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New Delhi, May 21: After public outrage over a rich juvenile getting bail after a Porsche car allegedly driven by him knocked down two persons in Pune, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "creating" two Indias where justice is "dependent on wealth".

"Narendra Modi is creating two Indias - where even justice is dependent on wealth," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

Gandhi also shared a video statement in his post where he said if a bus driver, truck driver, Ola or Uber driver kills someone by mistake, they are jailed for 10 years and their key is thrown away.

"But, if a 16-17 year old son of a rich family drives a Porsche car after getting drunk and kills two people, he is told to write an essay. Why don't you ask the bus driver or truck driver to write an essay. Why don't they ask the Uber or auto driver to write it," he asked.

"When Narendra Modi was asked that two Indias are being created - one of the rich billionaires and the other of the poor, he replies saying does he make everyone poor.

"The question is not this, but of justice. Both the rich and the poor should get justice. Justice should be the same for everyone. That is why we are fighting against injustice," Gandhi said in his video.

Gandhi was referring to the accident that took place in Pune in the early hours of Sunday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis have instructed for stringent action in the case of a car accident allegedly involving a 17-year-old boy that killed two persons, Pune police chief said on Tuesday.

The Porsche car, allegedly driven by the juvenile, who the police claim was drunk at the time, knocked down two motorbike riders in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune city in the early hours of Sunday, causing their deaths, as per officials.

The police have detained the boy's father, who is a real estate developer, and arrested three executives of two hotels for serving liquor to the juvenile, they said.

The accused teenager was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board which granted him bail.

The Madhya Pradesh-based parents of the victims of the car accident in Maharashtra's Pune have also sought stringent punishment for the accused boy as well as his parents, accusing them of being responsible for the death of their children.

The two deceased - Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both 24-year-old IT professionals and hailing from Madhya Pradesh - died on Sunday after the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a speeding Porsche car in Pune. While Ashwini hailed from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Anish came from Birsinghpur Pali in Umaria district of the state.