Celebrity matchmaker Sima Taparia rose to fame after the reality series ‘Indian Matchmaking’ aired on Netflix. The show features her business and clients, and she recently returned for a third season. Sima joined Cyrus Broacha’s podcast last week, spoke about how her journey on the show began, and addressed speculation that it is scripted.
Sima said she didn’t know what the show would become when it debuted during the 2020 Covid lockdown. She said, “On July 17 the show released, and I thought, ‘Chalo hogaya hai, it’s done,’ but next day, for July 18, I was getting 5,000 phone calls daily.” The matchmaker’s joinery wasn’t always smooth sailing. In fact, there was a time when she almost quit.
She said, “I started this in 2005. And after that, log aane lage mere paas, kyunki bole jo Sima ji batati hain woh sahi hota hai. Beech mein, ek do baar I was a little bit depressed, I said mujhe band karna hai yeh kaam (People started coming to me, they felt I was an honest person. There was a phase where I decided to quit, I was depressed).” When asked why she continued, “I thought kahin success nahi ho raha hai, but nothing is in my hand. Jahan likha hota hai wahin it happens, I cannot tell ki sabka match kara dungi (I thought I wasn’t doing a good enough job, but it’s all destiny), it cannot happen. But Anup said, ‘Nahi, nahi, you have all these qualities, you have to continue’. Inke kehne se I again started it.”
Viewers have pointed out Sima’s low success rate. Sima clarifies she is merely a mediator, and what is written in one’s destiny will happen.
Addressing speculation about the show being rigged, she said, “Nothing, nothing, nothing. Not a single dialogue I have. Just the camera is following, I’m talking to the clients, I’m conversing. We don’t even see if the camera is following. Not a single dialogue is there. Whatever is coming, the typical Indian values, as an Indian lady, that’s all. Netflix has not given me a single dialogue. It’s all total reality.”