Veteran actress Kiran Bala Sachdev was better known by her stage name Tabassum. She entered cinema as a child artist in hit films like Bahaar, Nargis, and Deedar in the 40s and 50s. In her heyday, she hosted the popular talk show Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan from 1972 to 1993.
Born on 9 July 1944, the veteran actress-host is today celebrating her 78th birthday. On this occasion, here are some lesser-known facts about her:
Apart from being an actress, talk show host, and YouTuber, Tabassum has also tried her hand at script writing.
She also directed a feature film Tum Par Hum Kurbaan.
According to media reports, Tabassum was born to Indian freedom fighters Ayodhyanath Sachdev and Asghari Begum. Brought up in Mumbai, She married Vijay Govil the sibling of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana fame Arun Govil.
The actress’ father named her Tabassum, while her mother gave her the name Kiran Bala Sachdev.
Tabassum started her film career as a child artist just at the young age of 3.
Tabassum played the role of Nargis’s childhood in the 1951 film Deedar directed by Nitin Bose.
Tabassum has also been the host of the first Indian television talk show Phool Khile Hai Gulshan Gulshan, which aired for almost 21 years from 1972 to 1993. She also worked as the editor of the Hindi magazine Grihalakshmi for 15 years.
Tabassum directed, produced, and wrote Tum Par Hum Kurbaan in 1985, in which she introduced Johnny Lever as a comedian to the audience for the first time.
Tabassum was also seen as a judge on Zee TV’s stand-up comedy reality show Ladies Special in 2009. She has also been a part of the TV show Abhi Toh Main Jawan Hoon, which was based on the golden age of Hindi cinema.
