“Itni bhi jaldi kya thi? (What was the hurry?)” wonders Shatrughan Sinha about the sudden demise of talkshow hostess Tabassum.
Recalling his long association with Tabassum, Shatrughan Sinha says, “I was a big fan of her show Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan. To be invited on her show, was a big thing. It meant the actor had arrived. I think I was the only actor to be on her show three times.”
Every encounter with Tabassum was memorable for Shatruji. “She was very comfortable with her guests, since she knew all of them beforehand. The stars also knew her well, sometimes from the time when she was a child star, and were comfortable speaking with her.”
Calling her the precursor to Simi Garewal and Karan Johar, Shatrughan Sinha laments the end of the star-journalist intimate interviews. “We felt like going on her show and talking about our lives. That comfort level between stars and journalists no longer exists.”
