|
Today Simi Garewal is known as 'The Woman In White' and the host of the wildly
popular television interview show, "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" where she
plays the chic interview host inviting filmi stars and the super rich for a bit
of tea and gossip.
For Bollywood in the 1960s and 70s Simi Garewal was the epitome of Indian
genteel sophistication and restraint. Her image as the cool and controlled
beauty of Hindi Popular Cinema never won her the kudos of the front benchers and
she was not a song and dance girl, but Simi worked with all the heavy weight
actors and India's best directors during her career. Her signature role was as
the school teacher that the young Rishi Kapoor has a crush on in Raj Kapoor's
"Mera Naam Joker" (1970).
Simi Garewal was an anomaly of sorts, not the usual Bollywood story. She was
born in India but raised in England, the daughter of a military brigadier. As a
child living as a NRI she was obsessed with becoming a Bollywood star. As a
teen, barely knowing Hindi, she came back to India with her Mother to fulfill
her dream of stardom. In a chance meeting with Mehboob Khan (director of Mother
India) she convinced the director to put her in his next film and Simi's film
career was born.
Simi Garewal thought besides her cool and sophisticated Bollywood image worked
in a handful of 'art film' projects. In 1969 she played a rural tribal girl in
Satyajit Ray's Bengali film "Aranyer Din Ratri". She also appeared with Shashi
Kapoor in the 1971 'crossover' film, Conrad Rooks' "Siddhartha". Simi played the
love interest to Shashi's Siddhartha and caused a sensation in India when she
appeared topless in the film.
As her film career started to wan Simi gravitated to the other side of the
camera and tried her hand at Bollywood film direction and then had some success
as a documentary film maker. Today Simi Garewal has her own production company
of which "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" is the most successful offshoot.
Hit Movies:
-
1966 Do Badan
-
1968 Saathi
-
1969 Aranyer Din Ratri
-
1970 Mera Naam Joker
-
1971 Andaz
-
1971 Do Boond Paani
-
1972 Siddhartha
-
1973 Namak Haram
-
1976 Chalte Chalte
-
1980 Karz
|
