Sarika (born 5 December 1960) is an Indian actress and

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

. In 2005, she won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

for the English-language film ''

Parzania ''Parzania'' (translation: ''Heaven and hell on earth'') is a 2007 Indian drama film co-written and directed by Rahul Dholakia; David N. Donihue is the other co-writer. The film featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in the lead roles, while Corin ...

''. She was also awarded the

National Film Award for Best Costume Design The National Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Si ...

for her work in ''

Hey Ram ''Hey Ram'' () is a 2000 Indian epic historical fiction film written, directed, and produced by Kamal Haasan, that stars him in the title role with Shah Rukh Khan (in his Tamil debut) in a pivotal role. It was simultaneously made in the Tamil a ...

'' (2001).

Early life

Sarika was born on 5 December 1960 in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

into a family of

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

descent. Her father abandoned the family when she was very young. From then on, she became the breadwinner of the family. She did not attend school.

Career

Sarika started her film career as a child actor at the age of 5, playing the role of a boy, Master Sooraj, during the 1960s in Hindi language films. Her most notable and popular appearance as a child artist was in the year 1967 in the musical superhit ''

Hamraaz ''Hamraaz'' () is a 1967 Indian Bollywood suspense thriller film, produced and directed by B. R. Chopra and written by Akhtar-Ul-Iman. It stars Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Vimi, Mumtaz in lead roles, with Balraj Sahni, Madan Puri, Jeevan, I ...

'', where she was seen as the daughter of

Vimi Vimi (1943 – 22 August 1977) was an Indian actress who acted in Indian films such as '' Aabroo'', ''Hamraaz'' and '' Patanga''. She starred with Sunil Dutt in ''Hamraaz'' and became notable. According to film expert Rajesh Subramanian, ...

named ''baby Saarika''. She appeared in many children's movies. Later, she moved on to films with

Rajshri Productions Rajshri Productions is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Mumbai, India, established in 1947, which is primarily involved in producing Hindi films. History Rajshri Productions, the film production division of Rajshri, ...

Geet Gaata Chal ''Geet Gaata Chal'' () is a 1975 Indian Hindi film directed by Hiren Nag and produced by Tarachand Barjatya. The film stars Sachin, Sarika, Madan Puri, Padma Khanna and Leela Mishra. The film's music was composed by Ravindra Jain. The movie i ...

'' with Sachin, with whom she starred in many Hindi and Marathi films. After separating from her husband, she made a comeback in Hindi films. She played Ipsita Ray Chakraverti in the film ''

Sacred Evil – A True Story ''Sacred Evil'' (Hindi: ''Gehra Paani'') is a 2006 Indian supernatural/surreal film directed by Abhigyan Jha and Abhiyan Rajhans. It is based on the book ''Sacred Evil: Encounters With the Unknown'' by Indian Wiccan priestess Ipsita Roy Chakra ...

'' which failed at the box office. In year 2000, Sarika won the

for the film ''

''. Her performance in ''

'' in which she plays the role of a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

woman who loses her child during the 2002 riots of India, earned her the

Khalid Mohamed Khalid Mohamed is an Indian journalist, editor, film critic, screenwriter and film director. He worked for The Times of India for 27 years and then DNA followed by Hindustan Times and was the lead editor for Filmfare magazine. He is the s ...

wrote for ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' of her performance, "Sarika is marvelously restrained and lifelike, making you care for Parzania straight from the heart." Sarika has starred as Sheetal Thadani in the movie '' Bheja Fry'' (2006), where she played the wife of

Rajat Kapoor Rajat Kapoor is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and early career Rajat Kapoor was born in Delhi, India and grew up in Old Delhi. In 1983 he joined the theatre group Chingari in Delhi. In 1985 he ...

. She also had a small but important role in ''

Manorama Six Feet Under ''Manorama Six Feet Under'' is a 2007 Indian crime thriller film directed and co-written by Navdeep Singh. The film features Abhay Deol, Raima Sen, and Gul Panag in the lead roles. The film was released on 21 September 2007. It follows an ...

''. Her latest movie is ''

Shoebite ''Shoebite'' is an unreleased film and is the story of a man in his early 60s played by Amitabh Bachchan. The film is based on a story ''Labour Of Love'' by M. Night Shyamalan. It is directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by UTV Motion Picture ...

'', which has been delayed for production, where she stars opposite

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

. Sarika made her television debut in

Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...

's '' Yudh'' which stars

in the lead role. Apart from acting, she also served as the costume designer, sound designer and associate director for ''Kuruthipunal'' (1995) under

Raaj Kamal Films International Raaj Kamal Films International is an Indian film production and distribution company founded and headed by Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker ...

Personal life

Sarika and actor

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

began living together in 1988, marrying after the birth of their first child, Shruti (born 1986). Shruti is a singer and a Tollywood-

Kollywood Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chenn ...

actress. Their younger daughter,

Akshara Akshara () is a term used in the traditional grammar of the Sanskrit language and in the Vedanta school of Indian philosophy. The term is derived from अ, '' a-'' "not" and क्षर्, ''kṣar-'' "melt away, perish". The uniting aspect of ...

(born 1991) is an assistant director and actress. Sarika stopped acting soon after their marriage, Sarika worked as Haasan's costume designer for the movie ''

'' and won the

er. In 2002, the couple filed for divorce, which was granted in 2004.

Filmography

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Actresses from Delhi Indian film actresses Indian child actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian amateur radio operators Best Actress National Film Award winners Living people Amateur radio women Amateur radio people 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Best Costume Design National Film Award winners Indian costume designers Year of birth missing (living people) People from Delhi