I can't believe I met my Siddhartha co-star Shashi Kapoor after so many years…how many years? I don't know! Shashi has become a recluse. He was so warm. When I told him I hadn't seen him for decades he told me that he doesn't miss my Rendezvous ever. It was wonderful to catch up with him and a film which means so much to all of us associated with it. At the screening there was no room for people to even stand! I didn't know there were so many people who still remembered the film. In the brief speech that Shashi made he called himself a cradle-snatcher because according to him I was just a baby when he did Siddhartha with me. So sweet!"

On Sunday evening Shashi and Simi were facilitated at a surprise get-together. Siddhartha director Conrad Rooks couldn't attend. Apparently he refuses to leave his adopted home in Pataya. Rooks' first wife Pamela who made the film Dance Like A Man has been in a coma for many months now after a car crash.

Simi is delighted by the experience. "I've worked with masters like Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor and K.A. Abbas. Conrad Rooks was an altogether different experience. He got together a cast and crew that was focused on Buddhism. We all completely believed in what he was doing. And how wonderful that I got to work with Ingmar Bergman's permanent cinematographer Sven Nykvist ! He photographed the film and me so beautifully. Now when I'm going to Delhi to relive a 30-year old experience all the memories associated with the film come bubbling to the surface."

She sighs in recollected pleasure. "Do you know Siddhartha was shot at the bird sanctuary in Bharatpur? We had such great times doing the film. Do you know it was supposed to be made with Amitabh Bachchan instead of Shashi Kapoor? I recall one evening Conrad kept referring to some guy he had signed. I couldn't figure out it was Amitabh for the whole evening that me and the director spent together."

There was a huge controversy surrounding Siddhartha when Simi sued a magazine for printing a bare-torsoed picture of hers on the front cover. Simi smiles . "I guess that was a mistake. I over-reacted. By drawing attention and subconsciously fanning the controversy I ended up having flocks of people seeing the film for all the wrong reasons. But today Siddhartha is on the curriculum of several major universities in the US. That really makes me feel good. We made the film with our heart and soul. It was a unique experience."

source:sify