Sarika recalls senior actors telling her ‘aise heroine thodi na hoti hai’

Veteran actor Sarika recalled an incident when during the filming of her movie Griha Pravesh ‘senior actors’ came to her and asked about not applying makeup. In a new interview, Sarika said that they said that a person who hasn’t ‘backcombed her hair or applied makeup’ can’t be a ‘heroine’. (Also Read | Sarika reveals she has ‘never been to school’, recalls she ‘felt bad’ about it)

Griha Pravesh released in 1979 was a drama film directed by Basu Bhattacharya. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, and Sarika. In the film Sanjeev Kumar played Amar, Sharmila was seen as Mansi, and Sarika as Sapna.

Speaking with Pinkvilla, Sarika said, “When I did film Griha Pravesh, I didn’t like using makeup and some of the senior actors came to me and said ‘yeh kya hai na back combing kiya hai na makeup lagaya hai yeh aise heroine thodi na hoti hai (what is this, you have neither done backcombing nor applied makeup, this isn’t how heroines are).’ So that’s the idea of growing and evolving of cinema.”

Sarika also talked about her daughters Shruti Haasan and Akshara Haasan and how acting has evolved. She said, “Both my girls (Shruti and Akshara Haasan) they are actors and independent in their own way. They are hardworking women trying to make a mark in their life. Every parent and children have a conversation, in fact, they tell me what to do and I too tell them that but that doesn’t really amount to advice. The generation is very very different whether it is my daughter or actors of their generation who are working now, the style of work is different.”

Sarika was last seen in Sooraj Barjatya-directed Uunchai. The film chronicles the story of four friends in their twilight years, played by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Danny Denzongpa. It also stars Neena Gupta and Parineeti Chopra. Uunchai is produced by Rajshri Productions in association with Mahaveer Jain Films and Boundless Media.

Sarika began her career as a child actor in the mid-1960s with films such as Majhli Didi and Hamraaz, followed by leading roles in Geet Gaata Chal, Madhu Malti, Jaan-E-Bahaar and Jaani Dushman. She returned to acting in the mid-2000s with films like Bheja Fry and Parzania, for which she also won the National Award.