When Simi Garewal regretted not doing one ‘great glorious film’ to be remembered by: ‘I feel gnawing sorrow..’

Simi Garewal has donned several hats in her career in the film industry. She has been an actor, writer, director, producer and chat show host. People remember her for her role in Mera Naam Joker and Karz. Her celebrity interviews on the iconic chat show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal have given fans some never-heard-before stories about their favourite stars. But despite her success, Garewal once said that she regrets not having done one ‘glorious’ film that would have become synonymous with her name.

In an older interview with Subhash K Jha, Garewal looked back at her career and life. She said, “I do feel a gnawing sorrow sometimes. I didn’t do that one great glorious film by which I’d be remembered forever.” But Garewal found solace in the fact that she has done a lot of other things which brought her ‘immense’ recognition. For her, her talk show has been her “most fulfilling endeavour.”

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The actor has worked with Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker, teamed up with Satyajit Ray on Aranyer Din Ratri, with Mrinal Sen in Padatik and Raj Khosla in Do Badan. In the 80s, she switched to writing, direction and formed her own production company, Siga Arts International.

Simi Grewal also hosted, produced and directed a TV series for Doordarshan called It’s a Woman’s World (1983). She also made a documentary titled Living Legend Raj Kapoor (1984). This was followed by a three-part documentary on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, India’s Rajiv (1991). She also wrote and directed Rukhsat (1988), starring Mithun Chakraborty, Anuradha Patel and Amrish Puri.

The veteran actor said that she looks back on her life “with much satisfaction.” She concluded, “When people said I was ahead of my time I took it as a compliment. It meant I was doing things that weren’t in vogue.”