Simi Garewal biography
Date of birth : 1947-10-17
Date of death : -
Birthplace : New Delhi, India
Nationality : Indian
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2011-08-15
Credited as : Bollywood actress, Mera Naam Joker,
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Simi Garewal was born in Delhi, her father, JS Garewal served in the army rising to the rank of brigadier. Simi grew up in England and studied at Newland House School with her sister Amrita.
After spending much of her childhood in England, Garewal returned to India while a teenager. It was her felicity with the English language that induced the makers of the English-language film Tarzan Goes to India to offer her a role. A gangly 15-year-old at the time, Garewal made her debut alongside Feroz Khan in this film in 1962. Her performance here was good enough for her to receive many more film offers, and during the 1960s and 70s, she worked in several notable Indian films, working with leading directors such as Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker (1970), Satyajit Ray in Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), Mrinal Sen in Padatik (The Guerilla Fighter) and Raj Khosla in Do Badan. She also starred opposite Shashi Kapoor in Columbia Pictures Siddhartha, an English-language movie based on the novel by Herman Hesse. Garewal did a semi-nude scene in this film which caused some controversy in India. Later, in the mid-1970s, she made an appearance in the popular film Kabhi Kabhie (1976), made by her brother-in-law Yash Chopra, and had a starring role in Chalte Chalte (1976). Another notable role she played was as a vamp in Karz (1980). She also starred in the BBC docu-drama Maharajas (1987), based on the book by Charles Allen.
In the early 1980s, her attention turned to writing and direction. She formed her own production company, Siga Arts International. She hosted, produced and directed a TV series for Doordarshan called It's a Woman's World (1983). She also made a documentary for Channel 4 in the UK called Living Legend Raj Kapoor (1984). This was followed by a 3-part documentary on Rajiv Gandhi titled India's Rajiv. She also wrote and directed a Hindi feature film Rukhsat and produced television commercials, for which she won the 1st Prize from the 1988 Paters Award in Australia.
Garewal also anchored the talk show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.
She usually wears her signature white clothes on TV shows and at award ceremonies, and is popularly known as The Lady in White. Garewal recently appeared on Say Shava Shava 2008 as a host and judge. After the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008, Simi Garewal caused a storm of criticism in India and abroad by publicly calling for the Indian government to carpet-bomb the terrorist camps of its neighbour, Pakistan.
She has recently returned on Television with her new talk show India's Most Desirable on Star World which would interview Bollywood actors, business & media icons and Indian cricketers about their ideal and desirable beaus.
In the early 1980s, Simi Garewal had a yearlong affair with Salman Taseer a renowned Pakistani businessman and later Governor of Punjab, Pakistan. Simi Garewal was married but is divorced. She was married to Ravi Mohan, however the marriage did not last long.
Simi Garewal though not so active in public life still commands a large number of fans. In 1972, her nude scene in Siddhartha, starring famous actor Shashi Kapoor, the movie couldn't be released in India due to censorship and created controversy.
