The Original Divas of Bollywood: Simi Garewal

Simi Garewal or 'The White Woman' is a person who defines 'evergreen'.

From the beginning of her career to her present age Simi has hardly undergone any change, in terms of appearance. The chic and fashionable yesteryear actress is still considered to be a style icon in the country despite being in her sixties. She brought along class and sophistication in her films and gave the audiences of her time a breath of fresh air from the regular tragedy-struck heroines.

 

The Beginning

Simi Garewal's first tryst in front of the screen was the English language film 'Tarzan Goes to India' opposite Feroz Khan. Simi was a mere 15 year old at that time and the role was given to her solely because of the fact that she was an England returned lass who, obviously, had a good command over the language.

 Claim to Fame

Simi Garewal acted in a few films like 'Do Badan', for which she won a Filmfare, 'Saathi' and Bengali film 'Aranyer Din Ratri' before she appeared as the charismatic teacher, Miss Mary in 'Mera Naam Joker'. The role is still the most remembered of her entire career.

The Calling

Simi was merely five years of age when she saw the Raj Kapoor film, 'Awara' and was blown away by it. It was then and there that she had decided to become and actress. While in her teens she landed in India and started her course towards an acting career.

 

Did You Know?

Simi Garewal had a year long affair with Salman Taseer who went on to become the Governor of Punjab, Pakistan.

Simi Garewal Now

Simi is well over 60 today but has shown no signs of aging. She keeps coming back with something new for her fans. She presently hosts the talk show 'Simi Selects: India's Most Desirable' where she gets celebrities to spill the beans.

While a lot of people have been quick to criticize her for trying to act young, we can only laud her efforts to keep time and age at bay for such a long time. She was a woman who lived her dream of acting and has constantly sought to re-invent herself in spite of all the criticisms that came her way. Simi Garewal is indeed a true classic beauty and a shining light when other actresses have faded into oblivion. (Entertainment, MensXP.com)

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Srilanka Player Malinga bowls Mumbai into CLT20 final

MUMBAI INDIANS beat Somerset in the second semi-final of the Champions League. They've made the final an all-IPL affair, as Royal Challengers Bangalore had qualified yesterday -- and this didn't look likely at the beginning of the tournament when most of Mumbai's first-choice players were out injured.

Chasing 161, Craig Kieswetter's 62 ran Mumbai close but what sealed the deal were Lasith Malinga's fast, furious yorkers which never seem to be off target. He took 4-20, all four wickets bowled.

Kieswetter and James Hildreth (39) added 83 to put Somerset on course for an unlikely win. This was after Malinga had flummoxed Peter Trego and Reolof van der Merwe with two fast, dipping yorkers.

James Franklin bowled Mumbai's crucial 19th over when Somerset needed 22. Franklin took 2-7 in the over but Mumbai also gained from a freak injury to Kieswetter who felt the full impact of a powerful straight-drive from Jos Buttler on his fore-arm.

Franklin's good over made Malinga's work easier in the final over, in which he had 15 to defend.

After the crazy scoring rates in Bangalore, a slow wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium brought a degree of parity between bat and ball. Mumbai Indians chose to bat.

Mumbai's problem in the tournament has been their batting. But today Aiden Blizzard rose to the occasion with a swift 53 (39b) as Mumbai battled on through a frequent fall of wickets -- Sarul Kanwar, Ambati Rayudu and Franklin all failed to cross 20.

Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas, an acknowledged specialist of bowling the final overs, dealt Mumbai a huge blow in removing Kieron Pollard (24) before he could cause further damage.

Suryakumar Yadav, in the squad for Andrew Symonds, and Rajagopal Sathish provided 43 precious runs -- 20 of which were stolen from Thomas' 19th over.

Sathish, one of the Indian faces of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League, hadn't made a notable contribution yet for Mumbai Indians but his 25 (12b) proved precious today.

Lastly, there was a bit of history associated with the game. Compton is the grandson of England great Denis Compton. In 1944, Denis had played the Ranji Trophy semi-final at this ground for Holkar against Madras.

Denis had made 81 in a big win for Holkar, a team that also had the Nayudu brothers and Syed Mushtaq Ali. Sadly for his grandson, there was no such glory in the Champions League semi-final.

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