The chat show host will be back... not with Rendezvous but a new show

Simi Garewal will soon be back on the small screen. And it will not be with her trademark chat show Rendezvous with Simi.

The anchor-producer has already begun work on a brand new offering that will air mid-May on Star World as soon as Koffee With Karan wraps up.

Though things are tightly under wraps for the moment what we have learnt is that the programme will have several elements and not merely be a chat show on a sofa set.

A new title has also been coined for it. Says a source, "It's distinct from Rendezvous.

It is entirely a new concept. Everything will be alag. Simi will also not be seen in her dead white outfits but with traces of colour. Designer Anamika Khanna is styling her.

But what will remain is Simi's inimitable style (of being so very concerned and empathetic) to make her guests pour their hearts out."

Rendezvous with Simi began airing from 1997 and had several seasons till 2007. After a decade, it was decided that the host devise something distinct for her next outing on television.

Adds the source, "Simi's guest list will include Bollywood's A-Listers as well as other influential folks from other walks of life.

It will also have a youth element on the show as several of her guests will be youngsters."

The channel maintains, "Simi Garewal will be doing a show for us after Koffee With Karan ends but it is too early to divulge anything at this juncture."

Simi too is guarded and states, "The channel will announce it at the appropriate time."

The real deal

On Rendezvous With Simi Garewal, the guest list had included Benazir Bhutto, Jackie Chan, cricketer Imran Khan, Brett Lee, Lakshmi Mittal, Jayalalitha, Gayatri Devi, Narayan Murthy besides film folk like A R Rahman, Kamal Haasan, Hrithik and Sussanne Roshan, Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan and several other Bollywood folk.