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Rendezvous with grace
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More goes on behind the scenes of "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" than mike testing and make-up, finds RANA SIDDIQUI, speaking to the gracious talk show anchor, who takes a break from interviewing others to talk about herself.
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RESPLENDENT AS EVER: Simi Garewal in New Delhi. Photo: R.V. Moorthy.
IF IT is grace personified, it is Simi Garewal. If it is a hunt for the epitome of elegance, the choice zeroes down to her name. She is the one who has redefined the art of personal interviews on the small screen, and perfected it through "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" aired each Sunday on Star World. Some may wince at the way she capitalises on the emotional chaos her interviewee may have gone through in the past, but on the whole, viewers lap up a chance to peep into a world never explored so deeply, yet sophisticatedly.
She is well acquainted with the art of interviewing, and being interviewed too! Sit before her, and you realise that she does not wear a preoccupied air, lends a patient ear and is never bothered by objections or pinching queries and is frank enough to reveal the hostilities she encountered when growing up abroad.
Simi is at the Metropolitan Mall, Gurgaon, to inaugurate `Les Naturelles', a cosmetic brand from Switzerland also known as the Jewel of Swiss Cosmetics. Claimed to be India's first exclusive skin care boutique, the brand has been launched in collaboration with Body Line International, a company of the Brushman India Limited group, the importer and marketer of the famous Keune hair colour in India.
Sitting pretty in her trademark white dress, that she says is her "favourite", pleasingly coupled with a simple gold chain and black earrings, Simi admits that she "always wanted to become an actress". An ambition that she nurtured in her school days in London, where she spent her childhood. At her Newland House School there, she acted in virtually all Shakespeare plays. "I used to be given the role of the leading lady in all the plays," she recalls. Much to the dismay of her schoolmates, it turned out. "When I was chosen to play Portia in `The Merchant of Venice' my white friends felt offended. `Why should she play this role, she is coloured,' were their remarks. But my teacher always sided with me, saying she is the best actress."
Simi's woes didn't end there. "They who had no knowledge about India would ask weird questions: `Do you people live in trees like monkeys? Eat serpents and have mud huts still'? I too, started playing along. I would tell them, `Yes, we are great psychologists and great soothsayers, who can tell you your future'. All surprised, they would ask me if I were one too? Boasting yes, I would look at their palm and tell them what not, and fool them!"
Always a "first class first" academic and sportsperson throughout her school and college there, Simi still realised that, "Everything is not for me, and not every role too." So she decided to come to India to become an actress.
"My father never wanted me to come back for this reason," she adds, but she went ahead. When her film "Do Badan" became a hit, she got a parallel role to Vyjayanthimala in "Saathi", opposite Rajender Kumar. "Teen Deviyan" and "Mera Naam Joker" are the films that she cherishes. She feels she was "lucky" to be "pitted against the best of heroes and to work simultaneously with commercial cinema giant Raj Kapoor and art film master Satyajit Ray".
What made her come out with "Rendezvous... " was the "awful talk shows on television" that left much to be desired. "The interviewers would marginalise the guests, put them on the defensive and try to show off and sell themselves as smart. I yearned to insert a personal touch in my talk show by giving the guests their due honour and space." Though Ratan Tata was her first interviewee, it was Jayalalithaa who gave her tremendous pressure prior to the meet.
"I was told by many that she is a monster, who if she does not like the questions, can snatch and throw your tapes, break your camera, shout and what not. So I was cautious. When she came to the studio, I went to receive her on the stairs. For the first three minutes, before the camera started rolling, she kept judging me, silently. And then she dropped all her cards. She even sang for my show. Could anyone have imagined that? After the show, she invited the whole crew to her place and treated us to wonderful tea!"
Such wonders happen because she researches for at least three weeks before interviewing. "By the time my research is over, I can write a thesis on the person," she claims.
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