By Radhika Bhirani
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) When yesteryear actress and popular chat show host Simi Garewal sat down to conceptualise "India's Most Desirable", her comeback series on the small screen after four years, she was clear about maintaining one thing - "originality". She feels too many in India clone American programmes.
"I sat down and started writing the first idea for 'India's Most Desirable' in 2009 and since then, I have been building upon it to make something original. I was very clear that I want to make a completely original show and that I didn't want to copy anybody's show. So every element, every game and everything in the show were thought out in a way that is totally original," Simi told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
The 60-plus veteran, who still manages to exude the charm and glamour that she stood for in films like "Mera Naam Joker" and "Karz" over three decades ago, laments the lack of originality in the country.
"I feel very sad that in India, a land full of intelligent and brainy people, people don't think up new ideas! They'd rather go easy and copy American shows or clone international shows, but few people give themselves time to write up stuff that's brand new.
"Believe me, brand new stuff is always welcomed. As an audience, I want to see new stuff, not clones and clones of shows...at least that's what I think," she added.
The evergreen actress had set herself another task - to make her new show conceptually as well as visually different from her original "Rendezvous With Simi Garewal", which pioneered the concept of glossy celebrity chat shows on Indian television. So, the new show has lots more than just a one-on-one chat with celebrities.
For starters, the guests are going to be 15 handpicked young celebrities like Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Siddharth Mallya, John Abraham and Sonam Kapoor, who are seen as some of the hottest and most desirable singles.
The new show, which goes on air June 12 on STAR World, also has multiple segments - where the parents of the guests would reveal secrets about them, followed by a series of games through which viewers would get a pulse on the real personality of the celebrities.
"The show is completely different from 'Rendezvous'. The presentation, design and format are completely different. I felt a need for newness because nowadays many shows which are similar to 'Rendezvous' exist. So I thought it's time for a change.
"That's why I wanted to create a show with an original format that nobody has seen before, which would appeal to mostly young people... but then there would be something for all ages. There's also going to be a live audience, which is not something we have seen before on Indian TV," she said.
However, what's not going to change in Simi's show is her love for white!
"I'll not wear white only in the first episode! Then I go back to my whites, with sometimes a splash of black...But I am going to stick with whites mostly because I love my white, I feel happy in white, and I want to continue wearing white always," she said in an excited tone.
Simi hopes she is able to bring celebrities a step closer to the people who find them desirable.
"I feel over the recent years there is too much focus on gossip and sensationalism and rumours, and because of that, these days viewers actually don't know these celebrities. So I feel with a show like this, we want the audience to know that if they call these people desirable, what are these celebrities really like because there are going to be strong revelations about every guest on my show," she added.
She is also hoping to make a big screen comeback and is appreciative of the content and treatment of Bollywood films nowadays.