When Kamal Haasan confessed that he was ‘losing faith in the institution of marriage’, Sarika opened up about being the ‘other woman’

Kamal also confessed that he was losing faith in the institution of marriage at the time. “I was fast losing faith in the institution of marriage itself, at that time. I always spoke of it loudly, to the shock of people. I said it on the first day I got married that I didn’t want to,” he said.

Sarika shared that they tried to resist the relationship “given the circumstances we were in.” Kamal added, “The fact is that she is a very attractive woman. Later on, when we got closer, when your object of desire was coming nearer and nearer, you realise you wanted more. You wanted to fall in love, which I couldn’t afford. I didn’t want it to end there, I wasn’t even sure I wanted it to happen. It was very painful.”

Sarika shared that she realised that she was in love with Kamal when things around them got really bad, but at some point, they stopped caring. “I realised I was in love with him when things were very bad and we really, at some point, didn’t care how bad they were. I think that’s when you realise it’s not just fun times,” she said.

Back then, Sarika was labelled as the other woman and the world was quite harsh towards her. “Being the other woman is one of the worst corners to be in because at that point, all the people who are abusing you, hating you, they are all valid. But the pain that you feel, that’s also valid,” she said.

Kamal and Sarika married in 1988 and have two daughters – Shruti and Akshara. They divorced in 2002.