Yesteryear actress and talk show host Simi Grewal was born in Ludhiana in a Sikh family to an army officer. She spent most of her childhood in England and consequently had an English accent.
Yesteryear actress and talk show host Simi Grewal was born in Ludhiana in a Sikh family to an army officer. She spent most of her childhood in England and consequently had an English accent.
In her teens she returned to India to pursue a career in acting and had to learn Hindi.
She bagged her first role in an English language film Tarzan Goes to India (1962) opposite late actor Feroz Khan.
In the 1960-70s she worked with renowned directors such as Raj Khosla in Do Badan, Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker (1970).
She also worked in Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri and Mrinal Sen's Padatik.
Simi has also worked in Columbia Pictures' Siddhartha, which was based on the novel by Herman Hesse. The role caused a lot of controversy back home as she posed nude in the film.
In the mid 70s, she was seen in popular film Kabhi Kabhie (1976), made by her brother-in-law Yash Chopra
She was next seen in Chalte Chalte (1976).
Simi Garewal was married but is separated.She married to Ravi Mohan, however the marriage did not last long.
She is till date remembered for her role of Kamini Verma (vamp) in Subhash Ghai's Karz opposite Rishi Kapoor and Raj Kiran. The film was a huge success.
Simi was also seen in BBC docu-drama Maharajas (1987), based on the book by Charles Allen.
Simi always wanted to be a director as a result in the early 80s she turned to writing and direction and 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).
Simi has also made a documentary for Channel 4 in UK called Living Legend Raj Kapoor (1984).
Then came a three-part documentary on Rajiv Gandhi called India's Rajiv which received international acclaim.
Simi anchored her talk show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal where she interviewed a host of Bollywood celebs and other known personalities.
She won the (1999) Screen Awards for Best Talk Show & Best Anchor, the RAPA (2001) Award for Best Anchor & Talk show.
She usually wears her signature white clothes on TV shows and at award ceremonies, and is popularly known as The Lady in White.
Simi was seen 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" its nuclear-armed neighbour, Pakistan.
