Simi Garewal has worked as an actress, director, producer, writer and a TV presenter.
Simi Garewal was born in Ludhiana, Punjab in 1947. Her birth name was Simrita Garewal. She grew up in England, she studied at Newland House School.
Her father Brigadier J. S. Garewal served in the Indian Army. Her mother’s name is Darshi Garewal.
When she was in her tender age her family migrated to UK.
She has one sibling, Amrita Garewal, her sister.
Simi's first cousin Pamel Chopra is the wife of filmmaker Yash Chopra.
Simi's paternal grandfather Captain Keher Singh Garewal had served as ADC to Queen Victoria.
Her maternal uncle Premindra Singh Bhagat was a general in the Indian Army and he was the first Indian who was the receipient of the Victoria Cross II World War.
Her cousin Gaganjit Singh was the major general in the Indian Army.
When she was 5 years old she watched Raj Kapoor's film Aawara. Simi was interested in acting since her teenage but her parents were against her wish. She then went on a hunger strike, so her parents finally agreed to her wish.
For the first time she gave auditions at Twickenham Studios in England but due to her Indian looks she got rejected. She came to India alongwith her mother and sister in search of filmy offers in Bollywood films but in the beginning she got rejected due to her western looks.
She took training in acting at Filmalaya Acting School in Mumbai.
She made her acting debut in Bollywood in 1962 with the film Son of India. By seeing her fluency in English the makers of the English language film Tarzan Goes to India offered her a role. She starred opposite Feroz Khan in the role of Princes Kamara. With her good performance she got many film offers.
Some of her notable works in Bollywood are, Raj Khosla's Do Badan, (1966), Saathi (1968), Raj Kapoor's ’Mera Naam Joker (1970), opposite Shashi Kapoor in Siddharth (1972) and a negative role in Karz (1980).
She did bold scenes In the film Mera Naam Joker and Siddharth in 1970s and she got criticized for doing such scenes.
In an interview she stated that the Showman Raj Kapoor was her mentor.
When her demand got decreased she became a writer and a producer. In 1983 she launched her own film production company Siga Arts International. In the same year she worked as a producer, director and a host in the Doordarshan TV series, 'It’s a Woman's World’.
She made a documentary for Channel 4 in the UK called, 'Living Legend Raj Kapoor' (1985) . She also worked as a writer for this documentary.
In 1991 she wrote and directed a 3 part documentary series, ‘India's Rajiv', it was based on the former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1988 she wrote and directed Hindi Feature Film Rukhsat. She made her last appearance in this film.
Under her production banner she also directed a few TV commercials.
In 1997 she hosted 5 seasons of popular English talk show ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ which was aired on Star World India, it contained 140 episodes. Below is the pic of Aishwarya Rai with Simi in the said talk show.
In 2011 she hosted 'Simi Selects India's Most Desirable' on Star World India.’
In 2012, she started her You Tube channel, she uploads interview videos on her channel.
About her personal life:
At the age of 17 she had friendship with the Maharaja of Jamnagar, Shatrusalyasinhji who was her neighbour in England. During this time she had friendship with Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi but he broke up with her after he met with Sharmila Tagore.
Simi also disclosed about her close friendship with Ratan Tata for a brief period when she was still active in Bollywood. But they parted ways and continued to remain very close friends.
In 1970, Simi got married with Ravi Mohan, a member of the aristocratic Chunnamal family from Delhi. But their marriage remained for a short period, in 1979 the duo got divorced.
In 2013 Simi Garewal in an interview disclosed that she wanted to adopt a girl child because she doesn't have children. When she was about to complete the legal proceedings of adopting a girl'child, the girl's parents showed up, this was a heartbreaking incident for Simi.
Once she disclosed that she got Botox below her eyebrows. In an interview while speaking about this she said, “Tell me, what is the big deal about Botox? Girls half my age use it. Botox is only used below eyebrows. It stops you from getting ugly frown lines.”
Simi is now 77 years old, she has aged gracefully. She has maintained her physique in an amazing way, she looks young and very fit.
Simi usually wears white clothes on TV shows and award ceremonies, white is her favourite colour and she feels positive in white clothes. For this reason she is popularly known as 'The Lady in White'.’
In 2023 Simi appeared as a guest host on the Bigg Boss reality show.
Recently when the industrialist Ratan Tata passed away she expressed her grief on social media by posting a pic of herself withTata from the Rendezvous with Simi Garewal talk show with a caption, “They say you have gone. It's too hard to bear your loss…too hard. Farewell my friend…#Ratan Tata.”