One look at Simi Garewal and you feel all these years have not had much effect on her. Appearing as radiant as ever in her trademark white outfit, the actress and celebrity talk show hostess opened up about her thoughts, opinions, her popular talk show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal and her tryst with Bollywood.
In the city on Monday to inaugurate ‘The Wall of Hope’, a collage of handprints by eye cancer (retinoblastoma) survivors at the LV Prasad Eye Institute, the diva was excited to be in Hyderabad. “I love the city, it’s culture and the climate. People here are lovely. I visited the Falaknuma Palace; it was beyond magnificent. I haven’t explored the city so much, but would love to,” she says.
At the eye institute, where over 2,000 children were treated at the hospital’s ‘Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Cancer’, little kids, in a strong message of hope and awareness, beautifully showcased their hand-prints on the wall. Simi, who also supported the awareness programme, spoke passionately, “It’s so hard to switch on the news these days; there are so many women being raped, Dalits tortured, animals abused and killed, making us very depressed. But, there are an army of people working towards the betterment of the society and I want to contribute towards the cause.”
An actress of great talent and style, Simi had quit films to embrace her TV career that got her unparalleled popularity. “I’m returning to TV with my talk show... most probably in January,” she reveals.
Unknown to many, she had directed a three-part documentary on Rajiv Gandhi titled India’s Rajiv and also a 1988 Hindi feature film Rukhsat starring Mithun Chakraborty, which, incidentally, was her last movie as an actor. Asked why she quit acting, Simi said, “It took me five years to complete India’s Rajiv. I wasn’t getting good offers and didn’t want to randomly take up films. I got offers from down South too. Mollywood director Anil Kumar wanted to work with me, but I didn’t feel like working without a strong role.”
A staunch supporter of women who stands up for themselves, she says, “I’m happy about how Sania Mirza responded when asked about her plans on settling down and raising children. A woman’s professional achievements are always overlooked. It’s important for women to be financially independent and in control of their lives. Men do not know what women want. Women should come out and speak for themselves.”
And finally, the query on her love for white came up. “White is a happy colour, I love it. When I wear bright colours, I don’t really feel nice about how I look.”
