Bhubaneswar: It was the era of 1960s. She was 5 years old. Born in New Delhi into a family of Marathi and Rajput descent, her father abandoned the family when she was very young. From this tender age, she became the breadwinner of the family. Since she worked to eke out a livelihood, she couldn’t attend school.
Taking a plunge into B-town, she started her film career as a child actor at the age of 5. In her debut film she played the role of a boy, Master Sooraj, during the year 1965-66. Her most notable and popular appearance as a child artist was in the year 1967 in the musical superhit Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar and Vimi starred Hamraaz, where she donned the daughter role of actress Vimi named baby Saarika
WHO IS THE STAR ACTRESS?
This star actress is none other than the famous actress Sarika, who was born on December 5, 1960. Today is her Happy 64th birthday. Her reale name is Sarika Thakur, but she is known mononymously as Sarika.
Sarika came into fame in the Rajashri Production film Geet Gata Chal opposite Sachin that was released in the year 1975. She went on to star with Sachin in many other Hindi and Marathi films.
She later starred in many hits like Jani Dushman, Kranti, Satte Pe Satta, Vidhaata, Razia Sultan et al..
In 1982, she made a debut in Tamil film Tik Tik Tik.
SARIKA – KAMAL L'AFFAIR AND MARRAIGE
During her stint in Tamil films, Sarika met South superstar, Kamal Haasan, and the two fell to the cupid arrows. Kamal was already married to dancer, Vani Ganapathy. But the two were facing compatibility issues in their marital life.
Sarika love bitten Kamal Hasan later decided to annul his marital relationship with wife Vani. Sarika and Kamal then together lived in a live-in relationship. In their live-in relationship, Sarika gave birth to famous actress Shruti Hasan in 1986.
After the birth of Shruti, both tied the nuptial knot in 1988. After marriage, daughter Akshara Hasan was born.
When Kamal got married to Sarika, she was at the peak of her career, but she left everything and moved with him to Chennai. But destiny has another plot in store.
After his marriage to Sarika, Kamal was allegedly linked up with actress, Gautami, which became a reason for constant tiffs between Kamal and Sarika.
In 2002, Sarika and Kamal decided to part ways and filed for divorce. The couple was granted divorce in 2004.
However, their separation had devastated Sarika.
In an interview to Simi Garewal, Sarika revealed how she restarted her life and career at the age of 21 after her divorce from superstar, Kamal Haasan. Just listen to her plight.
“I just did something that was honestly good for me and my mother. It had to be done. It comes after a lot….you don’t make such decisions overnight. I left with Rs. 60 and my car. I coped. It was very hard—it was not just about where the next meal was going to come from, I just kept up with my friends—went to their house, had baths at their home, and at night, I slept in my car.”
SARIKA COMEBACK
After separating from her husband, she made a comeback in Hindi films. She played Ipsita Ray Chakraverti in the film Sacred Evil – A True Story which failed at the box office.
In 2005, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the English-language film Parzania.
Her performance in Parzania in which she plays the role of a Zoroastrian woman who loses her child during the 2002 riots of India, earned her the National Film Award for Best Actress.
Sarika later starred as Sheetal Thadani in the movie Bheja Fry (2006), where she played the wife of Rajat Kapoor. She also had a small but important role in Manorama Six Feet Under.
Her latest movie is Shoebite, which has been delayed for production, where she stars opposite Amitabh Bachchan.
Sarika made her television debut in Sony TV's Yudh which stars Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.
