April 5, 1999
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TELEVISION: SIMI GAREWAL Confide in Me She has the gift of getting her celebrity guests to open up and reveal, making her syrupy interviews one of the most popular shows on television. By Priya Ramani
A few gentle nods -- to indicate she is enraptured by his story -- and some quiet propelling has Murdoch divulging what music he would like to play when he is wooing a woman. Celine Dion, for all those interested. By this time, Murdoch is sitting back, one foot resting casually on his other leg, laughing often enough and in no hurry to head anywhere. When it's time to say goodbye, he envelops the gracious hand -- perfectly painted red nails and all -- with both his own in a vigorous bearshake.
Murdoch is simply experiencing what a clutch of favoured desi celebrities before him have -- a chatty yet revealing Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. The same show which entered the top five Star Plus TRP ratings within a month of its launch in October 1997 and which went on to hit No. 1 with the Shah Rukh Khan interview in January 1998 bypassing Hindi serials like Tu Tu Main Main and Saans. Where Nina Pillai broke down in her first ever heart-to-heart about her late husband Rajan. Where superstar Amitabh Bachchan said socially he had nothing in common with Rekha. Where Ismail Merchant swore he would be married by the year 2000. Where Anil Kapooilsaid his family thinks he is a fool. And where Shabana Azmi announced candidly that hubby Javed Akhtar always left the bathroom messy. Quiz her on how she gets her usually not-so-garrulous guests to chatter and Garewal simply shrugs: "I ask." The popular weekly confessional that allows viewers a sometimes too saccharine-sweet peek into the lives of stars from the worlds of sport, politics, business and entertainment is back in its second season with personalities who are harder nuts to crack. Like J. Jayalalitha, for instance.
When Garewal went to Chennai to interview the politician, she was told by aides that "madam" might be late. Or that she might not even show up. Her guest arrived punctually, and they chatted for a couple of minutes before the cameras began rolling. It was their first meeting, but minutes into the interview they were belting out an old favourite Hindi number. How? Garewal asked, of course. The only person she probably didn't ask was Kapil Dev when she spliced together all her guests in a spoofy finale last year where one segment revolved around the pregnancy of the veteran cricketer. For weeks after that episode, every time he missed a golf shot Kapil attributed it to his pregnancy. "I didn't see it," confesses Kapil, "but everyone said it was hilarious." So far, the new 25-episode line-up includes Vijay Mallya, Farooq Abdullah with his son Omar, Garewal's childhood idol Gayatri Devi, Aishwarya Rai, Zeenat Aman, Murdoch, Pandit Ravi Shankar with wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka and the already telecast segments of Shekhar Kapur and Suchitra Krishnamurthy who said honestly that her career is more important to her than her husband's. The actress-turned television director-turned celebrity interviewer who is always impeccably clothed in white -- or ivory or cream or pale beige -- knows exactly what makes her celebrity guests tick. Before she meets them. "You have to know everything about them so you are in control and so they can't surprise you," says Garewal, an amateur computer chess player who spent a year researching champion Vishwanathan Anand, including reading about many of the games he played. "She's very meticulous," says sister and executive producer Amrita. But then Garewal has always been just that. She spent almost five years with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi chrodhcling his life for a high-profile documentary and still has the nearly 500 hours of footage from that time.
Her style is as effective as it is simple. "You have to lead into the question slowly. Ask people too specific a question and they get stumped." Next, she listens. "When I'm doing that interview I'm at the peak of my concentration. I listen to every word because you never know what you should pick up and follow up on," says Garewal. Well-placed cameras that sit inconspicuously on the fringes of her elaborate set anywhere from eight to 15 feet away from her guest and a crew of 40 that largely stays out of sight further propel the flow of words. Though no diffused lighting or "soft focus" is ever used, guests know the great make-up and the bounce lighting (not directly in-your-face) will ensure that they look good on her show. But that still doesn't explain how the concerned, well-modulated voice almost invariably elicits fresh insights from oft-interviewed celebs on everything from loveless childhoods to current relationships. Postulates Jaya Bachchan: "She doesn't create awkward moments for anyone. She makes you comfortable and that makes you drop your guard." Adds friend and another former guest Shobha De: "It's not about expos s or digging the dirt on anyone's life or embarrassing anyone. Within that context it works." Agrees Garewal: "I want to understand my guests. I'm not here to diminish or decimate them or to put them in a corner. You never get anything out of people like that."
Of course it helps that Garewal herself is one of them. "I can identify with them because I have been on the same side of the fence as they are," says the actress who first turned interviewer in the early '80s with the television series It's a Woman's World. "These are the same people who I would invite to my house." The calming, almost ethereal patio set of Rendezvous is, in fact, modelled after the terrace of Garewal's south Mumbai apartment. Its all-white trellis complete with antique door, homely creepers and even a pool of water that shimmers comfortingly in the light helps maintain the illusion of an informal chat. But most of Garewal's interviews peel away more layers than just a casual conversation. Like the forthcoming one with Zeenat Aman, in which the former screen goddess recounts her not-too-happy marital tale. During the course of the rendezvous, she reminisces how her mother was against her marriage to the late actor Mazhar Khan. Cut to near the end when Garewal asks her if she has any regrets? "I wish I wd listened more to my mother," Zeenat confides. The woman who inspires confidences largely because people believe she is genuinely interested in what they have to say is, strangely enough, very reticent about herself. In fact, the technology junkie -- "I run my life via the computer" -- who is as likely to visit the nearest electronics studio as she is to pick up the whites from the latest Giorgio Armani collection on her trips abroad, says she prefers hanging out at home. It is this inability to share her innermost feelings even with those closest to her that makes her envy the ability of her guests to pour their hearts out while the country watches. "I admire people who can talk about themselves. I can't do it." Perhaps she needs a rendezvous with Simi Garewal. |
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Asia's biggest media baron
seems a trifle uneasy. He returns her warm greeting with an awkward half smile that almost
has you believing he is getting ready to flee the television cameras chronicling his
discomfort. Unruffled, the lady proceeds to work her magic. As usual, she succeeds. Seven
minutes into the interview, Rupert Murdoch is telling Simi Garewal about his failed
marriage and talking candidly about the resulting divorce. Ten minutes and he's sharing
his concept of the ideal relationship and discussing his hopes for his children. 
