From Bollywood To UPSC: The Inspirational Journey Of IPS Simala Prasad

Simala Prasad was born October 1980 in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal where she completed her primary education from St Joseph Co-ed School.

Working in Bollywood movies is the ultimate dream for the majority but also a demanding task. However, there are some who manage to juggle a regular job along with an active career in films. One such shining example is that of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Simala Prasad who not only worked in Bollywood movies but also cracked the UPSC CSE on her very first attempt without any coaching.

Who is IPS Simala Prasad?

Simala Prasad was born October 1980 in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal where she completed her primary education from St Joseph Co-ed School. Later, she completed her Bcom and earned her post-graduation degree in Sociology from Bhopal’s Barkatullah University.

Simala’s mother Meharunnisa Parvez is a renowned writer, while her father, Dr. Bhagirath Prasad, is an IAS officer of 1975 batch and a former vice-chancellor of two universities. Dr. Prasad is also a politician who represented Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind Parliamentary constituency as the Member of Parliament (MP) from 2014 to 2019.

After college, Simala cracked the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MP PSC) exam and was posted as the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). However, Prasad wasn’t content with her achievement and eyed the highly-competitive UPSC CSE exam as her next goal.

Due to having a full-time job in the state police, Simala was not able to acquire specialized coaching for the UPSC exams and thus started to prepare for the prestigious exam by during her off-duty hours by herself.

Simala’s dedication and efforts came to fruition when she cracked the UPSC CSE in 2010 and got selected in the highly valued IPS cadre. She is currently posted as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Betul, Madhya Pradesh.

Passion for arts and dance

Simala was always passionate towards arts since her early childhood actively participated in dance programs as well as acted in her plays during her school days and later in college. She has actively pursued her acting dreams even while juggling her highly demanding job in the police.

Simala has acted in several Hindi films such as 2017’s Alif where she played the character of Shammi, and Nakkash (2019), in which she played the part of a journalist.