Keep Talking

This is interesting,especially since Most Desirable is clearly for a much younger audience. The guests are the new and hip of Bollywood,the tone is more suited for a college’s personality contest than the elegant afternoon tea setting she had with Rendezvous.

Garewal looks smashing for a 60-something gal. She’s never had a facial,she swears,and botox is still a bad word for her. Her porcelain skin is a gift from nature,as is her innate sense of style. Her preference for white is often mocked at,but I don’t think many 60-year-olds would mind looking like her. She has the finest couturiers at hand: right from Anamika Khanna,who is trendy and traditional at once,to Shahab Durazi,the can’t-do-wrong classicist Garewal often favours. Moreover,Gaga herself called Garewal “such a fashionista”.

The interview with Abhay Deol was one of the finest I’ve watched. He was intelligent,irreverent,modest,cool and achingly handsome. When talking of live-in relationships versus marriage,Garewal asks: “Shouldn’t a relationship have a destination?” “Yes,the beach,” Deol quips. The enthralling exchange continues as it would between two thinking people.

Much of an interview’s delight depends on the interviewee as much as the interviewer. Her Q&A with John Abraham was as if she was chatting with a block of bricks; the actor was so consumed by his own beefcake and his new-found singledom.

Garewal is a probing host,not an imposing one. She allows the guest to speak and isn’t self-consumed by shoving her opinion of them. The best thing about the show is that she’s inclusive. Unlike the other celebrity chat-show host,Karan Johar,who makes the audience feel it has gatecrashed a coffee-chat with him and his filmi pals,Garewal doesn’t get we-are-us-and-they-are-them with her viewers.

The show’s youthful format only shows Garewal isn’t afraid to try something you’d never imagine doing,and do it well. Like any trendsetter,she knows not to change is to stagnate.

And oh,I love her Kiki act. Anyone who knows her personally will swear what a great and hysterical mimic she is. Garewal’s friend designer Tarun Tahiliani says,“If Simi can replicate the vibe she brings to a dinner party,she can do no wrong.”

I,for one,would rather be her dinner companion than that of any of her desirable guests. namratanow@gmail.com