I'm not seeking love, says Sarika

<div class="section1"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="45.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e6e6e6=""> <div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script><br /><br /><img src="/photo/329981.cms" alt="/photo/329981.cms" border="0" /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">I’ve moved on, says Sarika</span><br /><br /><img src="/photo/329982.cms" alt="/photo/329982.cms" border="0" /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Life is beautiful, says the actress.</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Beautiful as ever, Sarika exudes a vibe that typifies her rebellious streak.Every stage of her life was a defiance — giving up education to join films at bearing Kamal Haasan’s child out of wedlock or finally marrying him and then walking out when the marriage hit the rocks. </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika has always done things her way. And, she has no regrets. Given a choice, she wants to be born as Sarika again. “And I’ll do the same things I did in this life,� she asserts.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika has shifted to Mumbai after splitting with Haasan. And she’s getting back to acting. Fiercely guarding her privacy, she wants to renew her identity as an actress. “My pain, my sorrow, my happiness are my own. I don’t want to share them. I want to do good work and refresh people’s memories. Everything I have done in the past is redundant.� </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika had given up acting after she married Haasan, though she was involved in various other capacities in his films. </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Is it her weak financial status that’s compelling her to get back to acting? “Don’t ask me about my financial condition. As for getting back to acting, I’ve never done anything that I didn’t want to. Yes, it’s a mix of both want and need.� </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika is presently doing director Roger Christian’s (</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Battlefield Earth</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">) film </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">American Daylight</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""> and </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Unwind,</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""> a film by Sudhir Mishra’s assistant Ruchi. “I’ve promised my kids that, having won a National Award for costume design for </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Hey Ram</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">, now I’ll get one for acting,� she smiles.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Every query of her broken marriage is met with that ‘don’t-intrude’ look. “I have a lot of wonderful memories. You can’t fool around with that. Those wonderful moments give you hope for the future.� </span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Two beautiful and intelligent daughters, Shruti and Akshaya, and beautiful memories are her greatest possessions, she says.<br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="45.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e6e6e6=""> <div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script><br /><img src="/photo/329983.cms" alt="/photo/329983.cms" border="0" /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">‘I’ve moved on’</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika has cried “countless times�, but she isn’t bitter anymore. “I’ve moved on.� </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Today, she’s got a fresh outlook to life. “Life is beautiful. I’m breathing fresh air again,� she says. </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Even love? “I’m not seeking love, but if it happens, nobody can stop it. And marriage? “At this point, marriage is nowhere on the agenda.� </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sarika says equipping her daughters with a good education is critical. “I don’t want my children to go through what I did. I was always insecure when I met educated people. They don’t have to grope in the dark like me.�</span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Motherhood is Sarika’s the most enriching experience. “My daughters are my best friends.� And she is proud of evolving as a person. “In your dark phases, you seek answers to so many things, you are lost and restless but when you are out of it, you feel relieved. It’s like attaining nirvana.�</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">afsana.ahmed@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>