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I enjoy interviews with strangers, says Simi (INTERVIEW)
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, Sep 2 (IANS) She is often criticised for inviting personalities who are close to her on "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal", but this time she chatted with a complete stranger.

"Everyone always accused me of being so comfortable with the guests because I knew everybody. But when I went to interview Jackie Chan in Hong Kong, I didn't know him from Adam.

"When the 'Rendezvous' is telecast no one will know I was interviewing someone I didn't know before. I enjoy interviews with strangers far more. Knowing a guest is a disadvantage," Simi told IANS in an interview.

Her interview with Chan, to be telecast Sep 3, is being marketed like never before.

"STAR World is going all-out with one-minute trailers in multiplexes."
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Excerpts:

Q: The Jackie Chan interview is unlike anything on the actor.

A: I really laboured over it. It's not just an interview. It's a profile on the man. STAR World is going all-out with one-minute trailers in multiplexes.

Everyone always accused me of being so comfortable with the guests because I knew everybody. 'Oh you knew Anil Ambani, or Amitabh Bachchan or whoever'.

But when I went to interview Jackie Chan in Hong Kong I didn't know him from Adam. We shook hands and had exactly eight seconds to be introduced and then we were both miked. He gave me exactly an hour and I didn't want to waste a second.

When the 'Rendezvous' is telecast no one will know I was interviewing someone I didn't know before the interview. I enjoy interviews with strangers far more. Knowing a guest is a disadvantage.

Q: Could you share some intimate moments from the interview?

A: It just flowed. I had come armed with the research. He was blown away by how much I knew about him. Because of that he gave me respect. He revealed things about himself and his marriage that he hasn't said on any interview before.

Q: He tells you that he married his wife because she got pregnant before marriage?

A: That's right. This fact isn't even in his autobiography. I was surprised by his revelation. I was touched by his honesty. I asked the crew why he shared such confidences with me when he'll probably never meet me again.

At the end of it he said it wasn't an interview but a conversation, and that everything he had said was the truth. Then he came and knelt before me and sang "Falling In Love" to me. He didn't want to stop talking. The spark plugs just connected.

Q: This is quite a coup!

A: I feel my talk show is no longer a talk show. "Rendezvous" is like a documentary. Jackie and I could've carried on talking indefinitely.