IN MEMORY OF INDIA’S FIRST TALK SHOW HOST
Admirers, co-stars and directors remember the ‘pioneer of hosting’ Tabassum
The death of actor Tabassum on Friday has brought an era to an end. Born in 1944 in then Bombay, her acting career started at the age of three, with the film Nargis, followed by noteworthy roles such as that of a young Meena Kumari in Baiju Bawra (1952), a courtesan in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and many more. She went on to do projects such as Gambler (1971) and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986). But, what immortalised her on the small screen, for which an entire generation still recalls her fondly, was India’s first television talk show, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan. It premiered on Doordarshan in 1972, within a week of the channel going live, and continued to be aired for the next 21 years.
Celebs from all walks of life wanted to be on the show, which was unique, also because it was interspersed with film scenes of the interviewee. Her jolly nature, combined with her fluency in English, Hindi and Urdu won hearts. In 2016, she had said in an interview to HT, “Initially, some artistes would act snobbish about coming on the show. But, once it became popular, the biggest names would queue up for a slot.”
PIONEER OF HOSTING
Actor Anil Kapoor, who worked with the late actor in Chameli Ki Shaadi and also appeared on her show, remembers her positive aura. “Tabassum ji was a lovely lady, always smiling and full of energy. She was one of the pioneers of hosting shows. And not a small one at that; it remains one of the most successful shows in adopting a “victim mindset”, the film business must seek solutions to overcome this downturn. He went on to add that some introspection is needed at this point to ascertain how the situation can be improved, going forward, and that the industry went into a “bubble”.
“There is a need to do some
India,” says the 65-year-old, adding that the show’s popularity is what made his late father, producer Surinder Kapoor, title their film after it.
‘TABASSUM JI BAHUT ZINDA DIL AURAT THI’
Filmmaker Anees Bazmee, who wrote the script of her last film, Swarg (1990), recalls: “When you met her, if you were tensed, your worries would disappear! You tend to not form a judgement about someone on the first meeting, but with her, you could deduce easily that she was a very good human being. She lived a whole life, the void her death has left will not be fulfilled. Whatever she did, only she could do.”
We titled our film, starring Rishi Kapoor
and Moushumi Chatterjee, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan. Her show was iconic, and she was a terrific host. She was one of the
most celebrated anchors. Everyone wanted to be a
part of her show, it was a big thing if you got the chance.
Unki awaaz itni achhi thi, whatever work she did was always first-class. She lived a whole life, and people will remember her for a long time to come. Whatever she did, only she could do. I am very sad. introspection. It (Bollywood) needs to do away with the victim mindset,” he said at Sahitya Aaj Tak 2022 on Saturday.
The year 2022 has not been particularly productive for the
Hindi film industry, as it saw many big-budget tickets fail to elicit much response at the box office.
What further marred chances of raking in the moolah were boycott calls that took over social media, targeting films such as Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan.
When asked about the possible reasons for this slump in box-office collections, Joshi asserted that this was the result of the industry and its creators having lost touch with their roots.
“There was a time when Bollywood films had stories taken from literature and mythology. These tales were connected to their roots. Then, at some point, Bollywood became selfcongratulatory and went into a bubble. There are mainly only people from Mumbai here. Many have never seen a farmer in real life. But then, they try to show farmers in films. They are cut off from their roots,” he said.
HTC