This actress was a star at 15, faced backlash after having kid with married superstar, quit films, lost all money, now..

An actor's life may look picture-perfect on celluloid, but there's hard work, dedication, and pain behind that success. Today, we will discuss a National Awardee actress, who couldn't enjoy her childhood. At a very young age, she started work to support her family. Today, Sarika is regarded as one of the veteran artists of Indian cinema, and she has sustained her stardom, despite going through several ups and downs. 

Sarika started work at 5 and never went to school

As per media reports, Sarika took responsibility for her family and became the sole breadwinner at the age of 5. As a child artist, Sarika worked in several successful films, including, Majhli Didi, Hamraaz, Satyakam, and other films. As an adult, Sarika made her debut with Rajshri Productions Geet Gaata Chal. By the age of 15, she became a star.

As Sarika started working at 5, she never went to school, and whatever she learnt, was from her film sets. In an interview, she said, "This was my destiny. Being a cinema person was my calling card. Life took me on that path through and through. At that point, I felt bad. I feel bad even today when I see that child stars don’t get to go to school and they’ve to work so hard. When I look at the good part of it, the film industry became my school and college. The directors and the actors I’ve worked with became my teachers." 

Sarika's sabbatical after her marriage to Kamal Haasan

In the late 70s to mid 80s, Sarika gained fame among the masses with her performances in films such as Vidhaata, Kranti, Pyaara Dushman, Devata, Satte Pe Satta, Razia Sultan, Nastik, and others films. As per media reports, Sarika and Kamal got romantically involved, and she got pregnant with his child. When Sarika was pregnant, Kamal was married to Vani Ganapathy. Her relationship with Kamal was heavily criticised, and Sarika faced backlash for her relationship. The couple got married in 1988 and became parents to Shruti (1986), and Akshara (1991). A few years after Akshara's birth, Kamal and Sarika parted ways, and they officially divorced in 2004.

Sarika made her comeback in films with Aakhri Sanghursh (1997), but she wasn't starring in many projects. In 2005, Sarika starred in Parzania, and that gave her the perfect comeback. Sarika went on to star in films such as Bheja Fry, and Manorama Six Feet Under. However, Sarika was finding it difficult to find apt projects for her. In another media interview, Sarika said, "The first thing that comes to my mind when I look at a script is my role, the director and the screenplay. I also ask myself if I’m going to enjoy the process. We do films for different reasons at different points in our lives. I really like to work on a set which makes me feel happy and good. Unfortunately, many scripts and roles are not there. There are so many good actors and there are only that many scripts. So, at any given point, some of us will wait for a good role or script." Sarika won two National Awards, a National Film Award for Best Actress (Parzania) and a National Film Award for Best Costume Design (Hey Ram)

When Sarika ran out of money

During the Covid pandemic, Sarika ran out of money and she struggled for daily survival. In a media interview, she shared her plight, and said, "Lockdown happened and the money ran out, so where do you go? You go back to acting because in theatre you just get like Rs. 2000-2700 and you can’t do anything so this is why I was not at all there. It was a very conscious decision but I thought it would be for a year but it turned out to be five years. Those were great five years." On the work front, Sarika was last seen in Sooraj Barjatya's Uunchai, and the Prime Video series Modern Love: Mumbai.