An uncut diamond called SARIKA

There must surely be a really long list of artists in Bollywood who are termed underrated and under-utilised. One such actor is yesteryear’s sex symbol and more commonly known as Kamal Hasan’s ex Sarika ! It’s so unfortunate she’s labelled either of those two undeserving tags. Not that being referred to as a sex symbol is bad, but then she was much more than that. 

Sarika was born in 1960 in a maharashtrian ‘Thakur’ family. Apparently the ‘father’ was conspicuous by his absence hence she was pushed into earning bread and butter at the age of six. When girls her age played with dolls, Sarika did the studio rounds as ‘Moppet Suraj’ mostly playing a little boy. From 1967-1975 through her transition from a child to a teenager she acted in notable films like Humraaz (1967), Aashirwad(1969), Khushboo(1975) and became a leading lady at 16 with Geet Gata Chal(1976) a surprise hit. Unfortunately her succeeding lead roles didn’t set the box office on fire, she was cast in a dozen disasters in lead roles. With Jani Dushman(1979) a multi starrer blockbuster she switched over to supporting roles and that turned out to be her calling. 

Performances in movies like Grihpravesh(1980) and Sharada(1981) earner her the Filmfare supporting actress nominations. She appeared in back to back All time listed blockbusters Kranti(1981) and Vidhaata(1982), she had precious little to do in these big films except generous skin show. She also played the stereotypes scream queen in Ramsay horror films Dehshat(1981) and Sannata(1981). 

She was cast in supporting roles in Karishma(1984) and Raj Tilak(1984) wherein Kamal Hasan played the lead hero, Cupid struck and the much married Hasan got involved in a tumultuous scandalous livein relationship with Sarika, they went a step forward and had a child out of wedlock in 1986, fine glossies and tabloids sensationalised the ‘event’ at that time. They got officially married only in 1988 after Hasan’s wife Vani Ganapathy divorced him. Throughout the relationship with Hasan, she played the dutiful wife in the shadows, stayed away from media and settled into matrimony in Madras. Two children and fifteen years later Sarika found herself at crossroads. Separated from Hasan and disowned by her mother, Sarika had to restart from where she had left in the mid 80’s. 

Back in Mumbai she started acting again and even won the national award best actress trophy for Parzania(2005) during her second innings. As is the case with female actors her age it was difficult to get lead roles, she played smaller roles in big movies like Babul(2006) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan(2012), was also seen in some forgettable art house films. Inspite of the national award in her kitty she didn’t really get the kind of welcome she truly deserved. Whether it’s luck, destiny, bad career choices or a complex personal life, the fact is Sarika till date remains an under-utilised talent in our industry. And there are no takers for her immense talent which for unknown reasons is still under the wraps.