"It is my children’s battle I’m fighting."
Nitish Bharadwaj has opened up on the impact of his messy separation from his second wife Smita Gate.
The estranged couple married in 2009 and parted ways in 2019.
Nitish has subsequently been in the headlines after he alleged that Smita abused him during their relationship.
In an interview, the actor addressed the breakdown of his marriage.
He also claimed that his daughters said they were “disgusted” to call him their father.
Nitish said: “In this marriage, I have faced extreme amounts of abuse of all sorts, and even now with parental alienation, my two children are being taken away from me.
“If I tell you only the two lines my 11-year-old daughters told me, ‘Papa, we are disgusted to call you our father’, this is what one child told me.
“It’s a lie that I am asking for money. I’m asking for my money that I was cheated of.
“I feel I’m cheated. So today, it is my children’s battle I’m fighting.”
In February 2024, Smita Gate reacted to her ex-husband’s claim of being abused.
She asserted: “[Nitish] has false and malicious intent to inflict harassment and malign my image.”
Despite his two failed relationships, Nitish Bharadwaj maintained that he believes in the institution of marriage:
“The institution of marriage is special to me.
“I believe in it. I have seen many, many successful marriages, including my parents’ marriage.”
In 2019, Nitish claimed that he was separated from Smita but did not wish to disclose the reasons.
He explained: “I filed for a divorce in the Family Court in Mumbai in September 2019.
“I do not want to get into the reasons why we separated. The matter is in court right now.
“All I can say is that sometimes divorce can be more painful than death as you live with an amputated core.”
Before tying the knot with Smita Gate, Nitish was married to Monisha Patil.
They married in 1991 and divorced in 2005.
He has two children with Monisha and two children with Smita.
The actor is famous for portraying mythological figures on television. He gained fame for playing Krishna in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat (1988).
Nitish also played Ram in Chopra’s Ramayan (2001–2002).
He has also appeared in several Marathi films and has also dabbled in web series.
In the early 1990s, Nitish Bharadwaj was offered the part of Sunil Malhotra in Yash Chopra’s Darr (1993), but he declined the role.
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