Simi Garewal

Simi Garewal (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian actress and a talk show hostess. She is known for her work in the films Do Badan, Saathi, Mera Naam Joker, Siddhartha and Karz. She is also known for her celebrity talk show, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.

Early life

Simi Garewal was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, in a Jatt Sikh family. Her father, J S Garewal served in the Indian Army rising to the rank of brigadier. Simi grew up in England and studied at Newland House School with her sister Amrita.

Film and television career

After spending much of her childhood in England, Garewal returned to India while a teenager. Her felicity with the English language induced the makers of the English-language film Tarzan Goes to India to offer her a role. A gangly 15-year-old, Garewal made her debut alongside Feroz Khan in this film in 1962. Her performance was good enough for her to fetch many more film offers. During the 1960s and '70s, she was in several notable Indian films, working with leading directors such as Mehboob Khan's Son of India, 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 starred opposite Shashi Kapoor in Columbia Pictures' Siddhartha, an English-language movie based on the novel by Hermann Hesse. Garewal did a 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 uncle Yash Chopra, and had a starring role in Chalte Chalte (1976). Another notable role she played was as a vamp in Karz (1980). She starred in the BBC docu-drama Maharajas (1987), based on the book by Charles Allen.