year: 1952 Place: Punjab
The 5-year-old daughter of Indian Army Brigadier JS Grewal, who lives in Ludhiana, watched superstar Raj Kapoor's film 'Awara'. After watching this film, he made up his mind that he will go into films.
The father felt that this was the foolishness of the daughter and that she would forget in time. Time passed, but stubbornness did not change. At the age of 15, the daughter again expressed her desire to become an actress to her father. When the father refused, the daughter went on a hunger strike. Finally the parents had to bow to his stubbornness, but they made a condition that he should make a name for himself within a year.
The girl, who reached Mumbai alone at the age of 15 to become an actress, despite her parents' insistence, was none other than Simi Garewal, one of the boldest and most beautiful actresses of her time.
Today's young generation knows Simi for her superhit celebrity chat show 'Rondevu with Simi Garewal'.
In the show, Simi revealed secrets connected to the personal lives of celebrities from every decade, from Dev Anand to Deepika Padukone, but Simi herself has always remained a secret.
Today on Simi's 77th birthday, let's know some special things related to her personal life and film journey…
Simi with her parents in a childhood picture.
Reached Mumbai alone at the age of 15 Born in Punjab in 1947, Simi shifted to London with her family at the age of six. He completed his schooling there along with his sister Amrita. At that time, Simi considered Queen Elizabeth as her icon. After this, at the age of 15, Simi returned to India to become an actress and began to find work in films.
Love making scene with 8 years older Feroze Khan Simi said in an interview that, as far as I can remember, I started my career with the film 'Tarzan Goes to India'. I was cast opposite the dashing and handsome Feroze Khan in this English film. I did many love scenes with him. At the age of 15, I had no experience working in front of the camera. Even for Hindi films made in the 60s, my accent was not suitable. I had to work hard and wait long to prove my talent.
Simi Garewal with Hollywood actor Jock Mahoney in a scene from her debut film 'Tarzan Goes to India'.
Simi was cast opposite Feroze Khan (centre) in the film.
Came into limelight with the bold scenes of 'Mera Naam Joker' Simi worked opposite Dev Anand in 1965's 'Teen Deviyan' and Manoj Kumar in 1966's 'Do Badaan', but she got more attention. After doing 9 films in 4 years, Simi got recognition with Raj Kapoor's film 'Mera Naam Joker' released in 1970. Simi played the role of Miss Mary in the film and it was her bold scenes that brought her into the limelight.
Most of Simi's scenes in Mera Naam Joker were with Raj Kapoor's son Rishi Kapoor. This was Rishi's first film as a child actor.
Shashi Kapoor was standing in front of nude Simi Simi's film 'Siddharth' released in 1972 was one of his most controversial films. In this film, Simi created a sensation by doing a nude scene with Shashi Kapoor. This was the first nude scene of Bollywood. There was an uproar when some pictures from the film were published on the cover page of an English magazine. The matter went to court and the film was not allowed to be released in India.
Simi with Shashi Kapoor in a scene from the movie 'Siddharth'.
The film 'Siddharth' was premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Here he won the Silver Lion Award. Simi with French fashion designer Pierre Cardin during the premiere.
Also worked in art films Despite doing many bold films, Simi was never given the sex symbol tag. The reason was that along with commercial films, she was also doing off-beat films. He also worked in famous art film director Satyajit Ray's film and Mrinal Sen's film.
Simi Garewal in a scene from Satyajit Ray's film.
The actress acted in about 35 films in her career. This role of Kamini Verma was the most popular in Rishi Kapoor's 'Karj' released in 1980. This was his main negative role.
Secrets from Bachchan to Kapoor family revealed Apart from films, Simi made her mark in 1997 with her chat show 'Rondevoo with Simi Garewal'. In the show, Simi interviewed famous celebs from every decade, from Dev Anand to Vijay Mallya and Rekha to Deepika Padukone. Many big celebs have also made big controversial statements here. Simi had a falling out with actress Rani Mukherjee herself when she questioned the relationship between her and Aditya Chopra on her show. Amitabh gave an interview for the first time with his children Abhishek and Shweta on Simi's chat show. Simi has interviewed around 146 celebs in his chat show which has been running for 7 years.
In the year 2023, Simi was seen in the reality TV show 'Bigg Boss'. Here she hosted 'Rondevu with Simi Garewal' along with Salman Khan and other contestants of the show.
Simi's show was replaced by 'Koffee with Karane' After 7 years, the channel replaced Simi's show with Karan Johar's show 'Koffee with Karan'. The show was aired at the same time Simi's show was aired on the channel.
Karan Johar was taunted while supporting Kangana In 2020, Simi praised Kangana Ranaut, 'who was constantly speaking out against nepotism and favoritism after Sushant's death. He wrote, 'I admire Kangana Ranaut, who is brave and bold. Only I know how a powerful man ruthlessly tried to ruin my career. I kept quiet because I was not as brave as Kangana'.
Simi supported Kangana through this tweet.
Through this tweet, Simi accused Karan Johar of taking her place.
A name associated with Raj Kapoor, 23 years older Simi worked with directors like Raj Kapoor and Manmohan Desai in his career. The name of the actress was associated with these two.
During that period, several film magazines published stories of her affair with Raj Kapoor, 23 years her senior. However, Simi never made any statement about this.
There were many rumors of Simi's affair with filmmaker Raj Kapoor.
Now read some things related to personal life..
Fell in love for the first time at the age of 17 The first person Simi fell in love with was Shatrushalya Singh, her neighbor in London and the Maharaja of Jamnagar. This relationship started at the age of 17 and lasted for 3 years. Then former Indian cricket team captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi entered Simi's life. Pataudi was very serious about the relationship and even made up his mind to introduce Simi to his family, but then Sharmila Tagore entered his life and he separated from Simi.
Simi's first serious relationship in life was with Maharaja Shatrushaili Singh of Jamnagar.
Married in 1970 which lasted only 3 years In 1970, Simi married businessman Ravi Mohan which lasted only 3 years. However, the two divorced after 9 years, after which Simi did not remarry.
Simi said in an interview that Ravi Mohan was a good person, we both were loyal to each other, but God did not make us for each other. We separated, but I am still close to his family.
Simi and Ravi's wedding photo.
Also dated Ratan Tata for a while At one time Simi Garewal's name was also associated with famous business tycoon Ratan Tata. Simi himself revealed this in an interview given in 2011. He said that he and Tata had been in a relationship for some time. Later both decided to separate and always remained good friends. While praising Tata in this interview, Simi described him as a perfectionist and a gentleman. His sense of humor was also praised.
Recently, on Ratan Tata's demise, Simi also tweeted regarding him.
Regrets not being able to become a mother, attempts to adopt a daughter failed In an interview given to Filmfare in 2013, Simi said – 'The biggest regret of my life is that I don't have a child. I was about to adopt a daughter, everything was in place. I went to an orphanage where I met a girl named Vijaya. His family dropped him off at the railway station. According to the rules, before adopting him, I had to get his photo published in the newspaper. No one took care of the baby for 3 months, but as soon as I was about to get custody, the baby's parents came forward… I was heartbroken that day.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
