Simi Garewal

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Simi Garewal was born in Punjab in a Jat Sikh family to army man J.S Garewal and Darshi Garewal. Her family has deep running film connections in the cinema industry. She was brought up in England and did her schooling from Newland House School, after which she travelled back to India and her proficiency in English language led to her being called upon to make her film debut through the English Language film Tarzan Goes to India in the year 1962.

Simi Garewal was married to Ravi Mohan of the famous “Chunnamal” clan from Old Delhi but later parted ways with him. Simi was in a relationship with Maharaja of Jamnagar who was her neighbour at the age of seventeen. She was also reported to be dating a Pakistani businessman Salman Taseer in the 1980’s.

Film debut and ensuing releases ( 1962-1970) Simi Garewal made her film debut in the English language production Tarzan Goes to India, which had her assembling with a huge star cast consisting of Jock Mahoney, Leo Gordon, Feroz Khan and many others. She, in the same year went on to be a part of two other projects; Raaz Ki Baat and Son Of India . She then went on to appear in the 1965 triangle musical love story outing Teen Deviyan which saw her sharing screen with Dev Anand, Nanda, Kalpana and more. The movie which narrated the story of a poet who falls in love with three different women with Simi playing one of them and the movie was an extension of her acting promise in Hindi cinema. The same year she appeared in Mehmood starrer drama flick Johar-Mehmood in Goa which narrated the story of an estranged family meeting by chance after years in unfavourable circumstances and was a mediocre outing. Career turnaround phase ( 1968-1975) Simi got her first Award in the form of Best Supporting Actress Award at Filmfare for her underplayed part of a girl who sets out to regain eyesight for her new found friend only to discover revelations of his past love life afterwards ,in the Manoj Kumar starrer romantic drama Do Badan also having Asha Prakash in the lead. Although centred on the former heroine for most part, Simi’s befitting performance in a seemingly side-lined role panned out to be a critic’s favourite of the year and the movie also turned out to be a blockbuster hit. Simi’s next award recognition came in 1968 through the triangle romantic drama Saathi starring Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayantimala in the lead along with Simi. Simi was seen playing a woman who lands in a difficult predicament when her husband is haunted by memories of his past marriage, post a series of events culminating in a tragic ending. She garnered the Best Supporting Actress yet again at the Filmfare for her controlled performance in the successful outing. Master showman Raj Kapoor was next to cast her in his magnum opus emotional drama Mera Naam Joker in 1970. The cult movie had her playing the childhood mentor like figure for the protagonist who develops infatuation towards her later on. The movie made her a talent to lookout for even though it failed to fare well at the time of release. She followed suit when she called upon by legendary Satyajit Ray for his Bengali adventure drama film Aranyer Din Ratri along with stars like Soumitra Chatterjee and Aparna Sen. The prestigious movie catapulted her career by great lengths. She then went on to part of Ramesh super hit Sippy’s romantic movie Andaz starring Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini, Do Boond Pani, Seema and Anokhi Pehchan. Simi’s next major project was the American drama film Siddartha starring Shashi Kapoor along with her in the lead. She also made news for an onscreen nude scene in the movie which was unseen in Indian movies. Other major movies ( 1973-1988) Simi’s next big film was with ace director Mrinal Sen for his 1973 Bengali art house flick Padatik which had her opposite Dhritiman Chatterjee. The critically acclaimed movie too made her a name to look out for in Indian cinema at the time. She also had a major role in Yash Chopra’s blockbuster classic movie Kabhi Kabhie which consisted of an ensemble star cast which boast of actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rahman in the forefront. Simi then played the central character in the emotional drama Chalte Chalte , where she played a psychologically imbalanced women who goes to any extent to regain her lover whom she once considered dead. She was seen coming up with a seasoned act in the movie and was pitch perfect in emoting the psychological nuances of the various phases of the character. Her next major release was Rishi Kapoor starrer supernatural thriller Karz which saw her coming up with yet another astounding performance playing a ghost who comes back to wreck revenge on her husband from the past life and the character “Kamini Varma” is usually a standout character in her career . Her final lists of movies were Insaaf Ka Tarazu, Professor Pyarelal, Hathkadi, Love and God and Rukhsat in 1988 which was her last movie.