Rita came from a conservative family. Her father was a disciplinarian and dominating. Rita was young, impressionable and an obedient little girl, who sought love and attention.

There was constant squabbling in the house, and everyone led their own lives. Her father, an avid tennis player, had to get his game of tennis everyday and that was his priority. Rita was sent to a boarding school at a young age, and at that time she took it as a message that her family wanted to get rid of her. She thought she was better off out of everyone’s way.
Becoming a rebel, Rita changed from a school in Sanawar to a convent in Indore and then finally to Maharani Gayatri Devi school. All the while, she continued seeking attention through her acts of rebellion.
She grew up into an attractive young woman and then came in the movie offers. Subodh Mukherji offered her Junglee and An Evening in Paris. She was tempted but her family refused to allow her to enter this profession. Eager to please and not wanting to defy people she loved, she let the opportunity slip that would have possibly made her into a star. “That was my folly, never taking advantage of opportunities that were thrown my way,” Rita laments.
However, Rita had her way, when she married her love Mohan Sadarangani, and became Rita Sadarangani. The couple had a little boy named Sanjay and moved to London. Rita’s in-laws however were constantly complaining that their son had married out of the community. They started interfering in the couple’s affairs, thereby affecting their relationship.
One day when Rita was at work and Sanjay in a daycare centre, Mohan picked the child up and disappeared out of the country. A helpless Rita, who had little money, then reached out to her family and friends to help her get a ticket to Africa, where she suspected her husband had gone with her son.
However, her affluent family who had been controlling all her life, turned around and said, “Who asked you to marry him? You made the choice now suffer through it.”
Rita somehow managed to find her way to Africa and fought to get her son back. And she did. She found her husband and child in Malawi. The government then handed her Sanjay. “Where is the family support, the ones that control your life and make
decisions for you?” she asks.
“There were so many opportunities that came along my way, but I did not want to take advantage of my good friends. All I wanted was their undivided love and support.” Rita recalls when she was a close acquaintance to the then home minister of India, he and his wife offered her various business opportunities and help. “Sometimes when you take a favour from someone you become obligated to them. Moreover, at that stage of life when you feel that you can be on top of things, you don’t want to take undue advantage, knowing there is nothing like a free lunch,” she said boldly, giving me names of people and situations that she was involved in, which would make for a good story in any tabloid.
Now Rita lives with Sanjay in London. The boy unfortunately has an epileptic and diabetic condition and needs looking after. “Where are those friends when you are a nobody?” she said. “Life is tough and people make it tougher when you realise that you don’t have their support. However, what does not kill you makes you stronger. I am not giving up,” she says.
“There is one thing I want to tell ambitious young girls who are surrounded with opportunities. Seize them because they won’t be around always. However, never compromise on your morals,” she said. “Your life is yours and people are around so long as your opportunities exist. After that they are gone and you are left with the choices you make.”