Simi Garewal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Simi Garewal

• Simi Garewal is an Indian film actor, TV host, film director & producer. She has hosted English talk shows like ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ (1997) and ‘Simi Selects India’s Most Desirable’ (2011).

• A few months after her birth, her family shifted from India to the UK.

• When she was 5 years old, she watched the Hindi film ‘Awaara.’ She then started developing an interest in acting. In her teens, she shared her desire to work as an actor with her parents, but her parents were against it. She then went on a hunger strike after which her parents agreed to it.

  

• Later, she started giving auditions at Twickenham Studios in England, but she was rejected for her Indian looks. Simi, along with her mother and sister, moved to India from England to try her luck in Bollywood. Initially, she was rejected from Hindi films for her western looks. ^[11]Simi Garewal’s Official Website ^[12]Masala!

• She then did an acting course at Filmalaya Acting School in Mumbai, Maharashtra. ^[13]The Times of India

• In 1962, Simi appeared in Hindi films such as ‘Son of India’ and ‘Tarzan Goes to India.’

  

• Some of her other Hindi films are ‘Do Badan’ (1966), ‘Saathi’ (1968), ‘Mera Naam Joker’ (1970), ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ (1976), and ‘Karz’ (1980).

• Despite doing a lot of bold films in the 1970s, she wasn’t able to get the tag of being a ‘sex symbol’ in Bollywood, largely due to her offbeat films.

• In 1973, she appeared in the Bengali film ‘Padatik.’

  

• She started her film production company Siga Arts International in 1983. In the same year, she worked as a producer, director, and host in the Doordarshan TV series ‘It’s a Woman’s World.’

  

• Simi appeared in the 1987 documentary ‘Living Legend Raj Kapoor,’ based on the book by Charles Allen. She also worked as a writer for the documentary.

• In 1991, she directed and wrote three-part documentary series titled ‘India’s Rajiv’ (1991). The series was based on the Indian politician Rajiv Gandhi.

  

• Under her film production banner, she has also directed a few TV commercials.

• She worked in five seasons (140 episodes) of the popular English talk show ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal,’ which aired on Star World India.

• Though she married her long-time boyfriend Ravi Mohan, a businessman from the aristocratic family of Chunnamals of Delhi, it only lasted for 18 months, mainly because of a long-distance marriage. The couple initially started living apart but got divorced after a decade.

• Simi Garewal in a 2011 interview claimed that she and Ratan Tata were in a relationship with one another for some time, but they both decided to part ways later. They, however, remained good friends with one another. She talked about it, in an interview, and said,
  

  Ratan and I go back a long way. He’s perfection, he’s got a sense of humour, is modest and is the perfect gentleman. Money was never his driving force. He’s not as relaxed in India as he is abroad.”

• In 2013, Simi Garewal shared that she did not have a child of her own, so she once decided to adopt a girl child. However, when she was about to complete the legal proceedings of adopting a girl child, the legal parents of the girl showed up. In an interview, while talking about it, she said,
  

  I nearly adopted a girl once. I went to an orphanage and found this girl called Vijaya, who was abandoned at the railway station by her parents. According to the rules, they had to publish her photograph in the newspaper. And within three months, if no one claimed the child, I could bring her home. Till about two months, there was no news of her biological parents. But just when I was about to get her custody, the parents showed up. It was heartbreaking.”

• She said that at that time the Indian actor Dev Anand’s words “I never carry my sorrows with me. I just put them in my pocket and move on” helped her.

• She has a Mercedes-Benz E200 car.

• Simi is a dog lover and owns a pet dog named Chutki Garewal.

  

• During her leisure time, she loves to bake cakes, and play snooker & video games.

  

• Simi wears white clothes as she loves the colour and feels positive wearing them.

• She started her self-titled YouTube channel in 2012. She uploads interview videos on her channel and has around 510k subscribers on her channel as of January 2023.

  

• In 2023, Simi appeared as a guest host on the reality TV show ‘Bigg Boss.’

  

• In an interview, she shared that the Indian actor Raj Kapoor was her mentor.

• She once shared that she got botox done below her eyebrows. ^[14]The Times of India In an interview, while talking about it, she said,
  

  Tell me, what is the big deal about Botox? Girls half my age use it. Botox is only used here (places two fingers above her eyebrows) and nowhere else, it only stops you from getting ugly frown lines.”

• She occasionally drinks wine at parties and events. ^[15]Business Standard

• Simi Garewal has been featured on the cover of a few magazines like Filmfare and Star & Style magazine.

  

• After Ratan Tata’s death in October 2024, Simi posted an emotional goodbye post on social media.

• On 19 May 2025, she made her debut in the Cannes Film Festival, where she was invited to attend the screening of the 4K restored version of Satyajit Ray‘s 1970 film Aranyer Din Ratri. There, she wore the dress designed by Karleo, owned by Karan Berry and Leon Vaz.

Mera Naam Joker

Rendezvous with Simi Garewal