Simi Garewal
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Simi Garewal (born 1947) is an Indian Hindi movie actress. Born in India, to a Garewal family, her father was a brigadier in the army. She grew up in England and developed an impeccable English accent that landed her in an English-language film Tarzan Goes to India in 1962 with Feroz Khan. She came back to India as a teen to become an actress and had to learn Hindi. In the 1960s and 70s she played in Bollywood movies, working with leading directors such as Raj Khosla in Do Badan,Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker, (1970),Satyajit Ray in Aranyer Din Ratri (Days & Nights in a Forest) and Mrinal Sen in Padatik (The Pedestrian). She also starred in Columbia Pictures' Siddhartha, based on the novel by Herman Hesse, a role in which Garewal did a nude scene that caused some controversy in India. She was once married to Ravi Mohan, which did not last long. In the mid 1970's, she was a guest artiste in the popular film Kabhi Kabhie(1976) made by her brother in law Yash Chopra and a starring role in Chalte Chalte (1976).
She made a strong impression as a villainess in Karz (1980). She also starred in the BBC docu-drama 'Maharajas'(1987) based on the book by Charles Allen. But in the early eighties her attention turned to writing and direction, forming her own production company, Siga Arts International. She hosted, produced and directed a TV series for Doordarshan called 'Its a Womans' World' (1983). She also made documentary for Channel Four UK called 'Living Legend Raj Kapoor'(1984). This was followed by her 3-part documentary on Rajiv Gandhi titled India's Rajiv which also received international acclaim. 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. Today she anchors the pretentious talk show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, now in its 10th year. She won the (1999) Screen Awards for Best Talk Show & Best Anchor, the RAPA(2001) Award for Best Anchor & Talk show. Followed by Indian Television Academy Award (2003) for Best Anchor, the Rotary Award (2003) for Vocational Excellence in Media & Television, also the Indian Filmgoers Association Award (2004) Best Talk Show, among many others.. 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.
[edit] Awards & Nominations
- 1966-Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Do Badan
- 1968-Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Saathi
- 1980-Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Karz