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A child actress in the 1970s, Sarika grew up to be a Bollywood swan. She was one
of the 80s top glamour girls, with supermodel good looks and a body to match.
She was often cast as the vamp or 'Westernized Girl' and consequently because of
the moral semiotics of 1980s Bollywood, almost always died at the end of the
movie. Personally Sarika was unhappy with her 'bad girl' type casting, feeling
that she was never given a chance to expand beyond the stereotype. Sarika though
did have a flourishing career as the glamorous vamp, her films like
"Grihapravesh", "Kunwari Bahu", "Vidhaata" and "Nirvaan" created a sensation in
the industry.
The camera loved Sarika and focused upon her with an obvious and blatant
voyeuristic gaze. No matter how small a role she may have had in a film, the
camera could always be counted on to feature at least one extreme close-up of
Sarika's exquisite face.
arika began an affair with Kamal Haasan in the mid 1980s which led to him
divorcing his first wife and eventually marrying Sarika. She settled into
married life and retired from acting opting for the traditional role of wife and
mother to the two daughters she had with Haasan. However Sarika remained active
in the industry and became a noted costume designer mostly behind the films made
by her husband. In 2000 she received awards for her costume design for "Hey
Ram".
Now separated from Kamal Haasan (in what is reported to have been a bitter
separation instigated by Haasan's alleged extramarital affair with South
superstar Simran) and raising her two daughters, Sarika says, her life is her
own. After a 17 year gap she has returned to acting and has appeared in a Tamil
film. Also against Haasan's wishes, Sarika is supporting her eldest daughter's
aspirations to be an actress. Sarika thought seems to be doing things her way
now. Hat's off to her, Sarika is a true Bollywood survivor.
Kamalhasan’s elder daughter Sruthi is all set to make debut as heroine in a
Hindi film. Sources close to Sarika, Kamal’s wife who is living separately away
from her hubby at Chetput in Chennai, say that Sruthi will be playing female
lead in Mansoor Khan’s film.
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