Sarika was called the ‘other woman’ in Kamal Haasan and his first wife, Vani Ganapathy’s life. The veteran actor’s marriage with Vani was not working at that time, hence, he fell attracted towards Sarika on their film sets. He eventually left his wife, but the process turned ugly and painful for all three of them. In many old interviews, Kamal Haasan had infamously said how he never believed in the institution of marriage.
In 2000, Kamal had also confessed that he and Sarika did try to end their relationship many times as he was a married man, but destiny had other plans. Sarika tied the knot with the Ek Duuje Ke Liye actor in 1988 and welcomed two daughters, Shruti Haasan and Akshara Haasan. However, they filed for a divorce in 2002.
After the divorce, Sarika was helpless, shattered and vulnerable, but she decided to start her life again from scratch. In an old interview with Simi Garewal, Sarika, a famous Indian actress and costume designer, revealed how she restarted her life and career at the age of 21 after divorce from superstar, Kamal Haasan. Sarika added that she left their home with hardly anything and survived only on Rs. 60. In her words:
“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 is a strong woman, and she had proved it again by not asking for any alimony money from Kamal. When she left her home, she was fearless. After struggling hard in the industry, she made a name for herself and went on to bag the National Film Award 2005 for Best Actress for the film, Parzania. In the old interview, she had said:
“When you really have the need to do something, the strength just comes. When it happens, you’re not trying to show whether you have strength or not, you go through it—you just go through. There’s no time to analyse the process. I didn’t tell anybody.”
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In an interview with Simi Garewal, Kamal Haasan was asked why he didn’t offer help to Sarika when she was homeless after the divorce. Answering this, he had said that he didn’t know about Sarika’s financial condition. Moreover, Kamal revealed that Sarika found it insulting when he tried to offer help. He had said:
“You would be shocked, you see her as a star on the sets, and very few people knew where she lived. When I became close to her, I was shocked to see, there was a little bit of sympathy and admiration. She didn’t want that sympathy. She found it very insulting when someone like me asked if she needed help. She would get upset, because any financial involvement would make it vulgar. It was pride, and I admired her for it.”
We love how Sarika achieved her financial independence without the help of her ex-husband, Kamal. She is indeed a phenomenal actress.
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