JAB SAARIKA NE APNAA GHAR CHHOD DIYAA AUR BEGHAR HO GAYI

I had the unique opportunity of watching some baby stars growing to be major stars when the grew up - Ali Peter John

These were the kind of girls who were encouraged by their mothers who had mostly failed to make it as actresses and wanted their dreams to be fulfilled through their daughters .

Among the girls who were popular in the 60's and 70's where Baby Khushboo , Baby Sonia , Baby Urmila and Baby Saarika . All these little girls went on to be star .

Baby Khushboo became Khushboo and made her debut as a leading lady in films like "dard Kaa Ristaa" , " Sautela Pati" , and "Meri Jang" till her ambitious mother took her away to Madras to look for greener pastures and mother's ambition was fulfilled when Khushboo became a leading star in Tamil films and even had a "mandir" built in her name.

She was in the eye of many controversies and she then joined politics and is now a leader of the BJP and expresses her opinions on any subject under the sun.

The last I heard about her was that she had contested the Vidhan Sabha in Chennai , but I still dont know what happened to her at the elections, but she continues to be a prominent leader of the BJP in Chennai.

Her acting career has all but come to an end, but she has the ability to stay in the limelight all the time.

And I sometime wonder whether this Amma" is the same baby who I used to see sitting on the laps of filmmakers or any one who could give her a role as a child artist.

Baby Sonia was also a child artist and is best remembered for the double role she made in "Do Kaliyan" made in the south.

This Baby Sonia was to be Neetu Singh who not only became a big star but also married her co-star Rishi Kapoor and became a part of the Kapoor Khandaan , whose son Ranbir Kapoor is one of the leading as highest paid male star today.

Baby Urmila was the daughter of a professor and grew up in a middle class Maharastrian family . She was lucky to get her first break as a child artist in Shekhar Kapur 's first film as a director , Masoom .

She didnt do anymore films ad a child artist , but came as a big surprise when she teamed up with Jugal Hansraaj , the little boy in Masoom and made her debut in "Kanoon".

She kept rising as a star with films like Rangeela , Satya , Judaai and Pinjar , among others.

She gave up films for politics and join the Congress party which chose her to contest the elections to the Lok Sabha from North East Mumbai and she lost miserably to Gopal Shetty of the BJP and blamed internal politics in the Congress for her defeat.

She next jumped on to the Shiv Sena bandwagon and was welcomed by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra who is also the leader of the Sena. Will she have a future in politics ? Only time will tell .

And what does one say about Baby Saarika . Her mother also wanted her pretty daughter who get into films .

The baby also played the Baba in several films with the name , Master Suraj. She made a striking comeback with the one time Master Sachin as her hero in a film called "Geet Gaata Chal " which was a superhit and the team did several other films together.

Saarika was a very blend of the simple woman and the sophisticated woman. She could play the Bharatiya Naari and also play the vamp who wore revealing cloths when the scenes demanded . It was her mother who was her manager and who controlled her life .

All was well for Saarika till she did a film called "Nirvaan" which was directed by Jalal Agha, a highly talented actor , and the film also had Amol Palekar and Tinnu Anand in other key roles .

It was an outstanding film by any standards and could have been one of the best performances of Sarika .

But... There was a split second scene in which Sarika reveals her breasts . There were reservations about the censors passing the film. But , there was a bigger and stricter censor in Sarikas mother .

A special show was arranged for her and she was calm for more than an hour. And then came the "deadly scene where Sarika reveals her breasts .

The mother ( Mrs Thakur) created a ruckus in the preview theatre and told Jalal that she would not allow them to release the film unless the scene was cut out .

That was the beginning of endless clashes between the mother and the daughter who lived in the same flat in Bhanu Apartments.

And when the tussle grew unbearable, Sarika walked out of her own house , just talking a few of her clothes.

A local politician called Pushpakant Mhatre gave Sarika a place to live in on Raut Lane , opposite the Iskcon Temple and Sarika lived there like a refugee for quite some time.

She soon changed one pg accommodation after another and started doing any kind of roles that came her way .

It was at this desperate time in her life that the demi god of the south , Kamal Hassan met her . The meeting led to love .

And one morning Sarika called me to her apartment in Seven Bungalows and told me that she was pregnant .

Before the controversy could take an ugly shape , Kamal took her away from Bombay and they lived together for 3 years , during which they had 2 daughters, Shruti and Akshaara .

Kamal and Sarika got officially married at a grand public function and Sarika was known as Sarika Amma all over Madras .

She took charge of Kamal's production of his films and soon was recognized as an excellent all rounder and was a very big help for Kamal .

Sarika however had more trouble destined for her. Kamal who had married Vani Ganpathy before marrying Sarika had another woman in his life , a well known actress. It was a sign for Sarika to take action for being betrayed.

She left Kamal' s mansion and reached Bombay with her 2 little daughters and lived in a building called Varun in Versova .

She started finding work and did good films like "Parzania" , Babul and Manoroma 3 feet under. She even got the national award for her performance in Parzania .

Her daughters opted to live with Kamal and it was back to living like gypsy for Sarika . She is in Mumbai now , but very few people know where she is .

AISE BHI HOTAA HAI ZINDAGI MEIN. ISILIYE TOH ZINDAGI KO EK KHEL KAHETE HAI KUCH LOG .

LEKIN KOYI KUCH BHI KAHE SARIKA JAISI DOST , MAA AUR KALAAKAAR ZINDAGI MEIN KABHI KABHI AATE HAIN.