Veteran actor Tabassum Govil passes away at 78 after cardiac arrest

Mumbai, Nov 19: Tabassum Govil, veteran Bollywood actress, has passed away in Mumbai, news agency PTI quoted her son Hoshang Govil as saying. Also known as Baby Tabassum, she started her carrer in the film industry in the late 1940s as a child actor and was active through the coming decades.

The reason of her death has been revealed to be cardiac arrest. Tabassum Govil is the sister-in-law of TV actor Arun Govil, most popular for playing the role Lord Ram in BR Chopra's Ramayan.

Apart from acting in films like Nargis (1947), followed by Mera Suhaag (1947), Manjhdhar (1947), Bari Behen (1949), Deedar (1951) and Swarg (1990), Tabassum hosted the popular Doordarshan celebrity talk show Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan from 1972 to 1993.

"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.

In 2021, Tabassum recovered from COVID-19 after spending nearly 10 days in hospital. That time his son had dismissed the rumours that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and said, as Indian Express reported, "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."