Abandoned by dad at 5, Bollywood star never went to school; left home at 21 with Rs 60 in pocket; chose to have two kids out of wedlock with superstar

Speaking about her childhood days, Sarika told Simi Garewal: “I never went to school at all. I remember being taken to the school once by my parents, but I started working and it was not very convenient.” Till date, she regrets losing her childhood and having to give up on innocence. “There are certain things that come with childhood, which will never come again. It’s the freedom when you are not aware of anything in life.”

Sarika started her innings as a child actor, graduating to roles as an actress later on.

As a child actor she was expected to do traumatic scenes of losing her parent. “They put glycerin and tell bad things to make child stars cry. For a normal child, losing a parent is such a traumatic experience and we at 6 acted such scenes, and were appreciated and rewarded with biscuits and chocolates. They keep keying your emotions for better shots.”

ALSO READ | Shruti Haasan reflects on parents Kamal Haasan and Sarika’s ‘painful’ divorce, says they were ‘most beautiful couple’ in happier times

At 15, she made her debut as a leading lady and just when she thought her life was getting better, she had to leave everything behind at 21, with just Rs 60 in her pocket and a car. She said: “I think that is something which I honestly felt was good not just for me but also my mother. Maybe, I saw it before others and I thought I had to be done. You don’t make such decisions overnight, it comes after a lot of thinking.”

In 2017, post the demise of Sarika’s mother, the actress got into a legal battle to save her mother’s Juhu flat–a flat which a city doctor claimed was bequeathed to him by Sarika’s mother Kamal Thakur whom she had deserted. In his argument, he claimed, “Sarika deserted her mother since 1982 and was now attempting to disposses him by trying to trespass upon the flat after her demise… in her agenda to illegally grab it.”

Life after leaving her mother and life earnings was not easy for the actress. “I would visit my friend’s house and take a shower and at night, sleep in my car, ” she said. She added, “Sometimes when you really have the need of doing something, you gain that courage all by yourself.”

Shruti Haasan is the eldest daughter of Kamal Haasan and Sarika.

It was around the same time when she came across Kamal Haasan and her love story with him was no relief. Kamal Haasan who had started to know her said it was a shock to know her reality. After meeting on the sets of Raaj Tilak in 1984, the two became extremely close, attracting severe backlash.

Sarika shared, “Given the circumstances we were in, we had to resist our attraction and feelings.” Kamal Haasan, who accompanied her in the interview added, “It was one storm we were both trying to avoid but strangely we were thrown into the rain, again and again and again. We fell in love much later. She was very attractive. When I got to know her closely, I realised I wanted to fall in love and I didn’t want it to end there or not even sure if I wanted it to happen.”

ALSO READ | Shruti Haasan calls parents Kamal Haasan, Sarika ‘stubborn people’; recalls shifting to Mumbai when they divorced

However, Sarika realised her love for him much later. “I realised I was in love with him when things were very bad and after some point we didn’t care how bad they were. I think that’s when you realise it’s not just fun times.”

Their love story was not easy. Kamal Haasan was married to Vani Ganapathy. They broke up about four times, but things changed when Sarika got pregnant with their first daughter Shruti Haasan. “We were condemned. We both didn’t have anyone. People who loved us also condemned us”, shared the couple. They further recalled: “Things got worse. Suddenly, one day, I decided ‘this is enough.’ And she was pregnant.”

Sarika recalled: “I was just informing him that I am carrying your child. I didn’t tell him to marry me or leave his wife or to move in with me. This was never the discussion. I thought he had all the right to know that I was carrying a child and decided to keep the child. This was my need. He was not committed to me. He was not responsible in anyway.”

Kamal Haasan and his ex-wife Sarika, with their daughters Akshara and Shruti Haasan. (Express Archive)

However, this changed everything for the couple. Kamal Haasan recalled: “Then I said, enough is enough, you are not going anywhere and let’s have the baby. I then called the press, they were kind. I told them the child she is carrying is mine, I don’t know if that is legally right or what I am doing is right, but as a human being I think this is right.”

Things only got worse for the couple, especially Sarika who was the “other woman” in Kamal Haasan’s life. “It was difficult getting a rental house in Madras. We had become a taboo.” Eventually, their first daughter Shruti Haasan was born out of wedlock in 1986 and they decided to stay unmarried until they had their second baby.

Kamal shared: “She told me a something which touched me. She asked: ‘Are we stopping at one?’ I said: ‘No’. Then why give new status to this new child, which can become bone of contention between siblings? We decided to have them both out of wedlock.”

After the birth of their second child Akshara in 1991, the couple tied the knot.

However, they never believed that a marriage can hold two people. In the same interview, Sagarika shared: “I feel these are right things, they should be done but I don’t think they really can hold you together. I am not saying because of what happened with him, but today we are married and tomorrow anything can happen.”

And that’s exactly what happened. In 2004, they divorced each other and Sarika left Kamal Haasan with both her daughters.

Speaking about their parents’ divorce, Shruti Haasan told Pinkvilla: “It is painful, for the children as well as the parents. This is a normal part of so many homes today. And it is not like it is painful only when the parents are getting separated. There are homes, where, for society, the parents live together, sometimes there is more pain in those homes because it’s hidden.”

She added: “For me, when they were together and happy, they were the most beautiful couple I have ever seen because they used to work together, go the sets together, mumma would do her costumes… The whole family was into movies… I was also in the costume department, my sister (Akshara) was in the AD (assistant director) department, she also worked in the art department. So we were all a family of film people.”

“But when they weren’t getting along, they were mature enough and spoke to each other and decided, ‘we can’t’. They tried a lot (to be together), but they couldn’t. Individually, they are two very talented people. I am happy they are still my parents. If they are happy separately, then it is good for us also.”