Without knowing it, Simi's love affair with television had begun. And it was a relationship that was to endure over nearly two decades. After her debut, she was asked to host a regular show on Doordarshan. "I said: `What about?' And they said: `How about a magazine for women'," says she. And that set the ball in motion. "I love new things and I freak out on computers, so television was a whole new wonderful world for me," she adds. That's how the first magazine for women in English,It's A Woman's World, was born.

A glossy and glamourous show on Sunday, in the prime-time slot, it was half-an-hour long and included an astrology section, an aerobics section, an agony aunt Vimla Patil as well as a panel discussion. "Everything about it was glamourous including the set designed by Urshila Kerkar," says Simi. It also became a platform for opinions that had never been aired before. On a programme discussing infidelity -- the panel included Dr Saryu Doshi and Mahesh Bhatt -- the film-maker came out and said that if he found that his spouse had been unfaithful, he would take an axe to her.

This view created a furore but Simi continued undaunted and unfazed. Though that could not save the show. It's A Woman's World was taken off the air -- by Simi -- in three months. "The problem with the show was that it was before its time by at least 10 years. People saw it as too glamourous. If you saw the show today you would not think it was outdated," says Simi. She recently showed anepisode to designer Tarun Tahiliani who felt that it was more relevant today than most of the other programmes currently on air.

Despite the flak her show drew, Simi was bitten by the television bug and went on to produce ad films as well as her famous documentary on Rajiv Gandhi. "In those days, there was only one studio, Western Outdoor at Horniman Circle," says she.

Also all television work was done on low band tapes -- the lowest grade of recording. The biggest problem with that was Simi could not wear her favourite white, as the equipment could not take the contrast. "I had to wear colours and I felt miserable," she says. This drove Simi to master the technology and upgrade wherever possible. "Television has turned out to be much more fulfilling than I thought. The technology keeps changing and you have to be constantly on your toes to keep up," she says. Today, she has her own editing suite at her Malabar Hill home.

And a talk show, Rendezvous, on Star Plus that is the talk of town. Herintimate tete-a-tete with celebs, draws in both big names and big audiences. It has the highest TRPs of all talk shows and has left people like Priya Tendulkar and Kiron Kher in the shade. "The secret is research, no homework is ever wasted," she says. For Rendezvous most of her research is stored on floppy disks but she has still preserved her It's A Woman's World information. "I have reams of paper from that show till today," she says.

Technology may have improved production values but competition means that it's harder to be heard above the din. "It was almost like everyone had a free lunch in those days," says Simi. With only one channel the start of a new programme was like a film premiere. "When a new programme started it was talked about for months. Now, it's not so easy," says Simi. Not something that Simi needs to worry about. It would be impossible to imagine her merging with the background. The spotlight seems to constantly follow the Lady In White.