Meet woman who worked in Bollywood films, cracked UPSC in 1st try with self-study, got AIR 51, but didn’t become IAS...

Many people aspire to be famous bollywood celebrities but some leave that career to do some more meaningful things in life. One such inspiring story is of IPS Simala Prasad, who cleared the UPSC exam in her first attempt without coaching. 

Born in October 1980 in Bhopal, Prasad studied at St Joseph Co-ed School.

She then pursued BCom in her graduation, and later, she did sociology in post-graduation from Barkatullah University, Bhopal. 

Her father Dr Bhagirath Prasad is a 1975 batch IAS officer, who served as a vice Chancellor of two universities and a Lok Sabha member from Bhind, Madhya Pradesh from 2014 to 2019. Simala's mother Mehrunnisa Parvez is a renowned writer.

After graduating, Simala cleared the MP PSC exam of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission. She was then posted as DSP. During this time, she began preparing for the UPSC exam. She cracked the UPSC CSE 2010 in her first attempt and secured AIR 51 with self-study.

Also, she has worked in Bollywood films such as Alif (2017) and Nakkash (2019). She also played the character of Shammi in Alif and a journalist in Nakkash. Since childhood, she was passionate about dancing and acting. During her school-college days, she used to participate in various plays and other activities. 

She is also popular on social media and has 10.9 k followers on Instagram.

Currently, serving as the IPS officer from the 2010 batch and is posted in Madhya Pradesh.