Singer Kumar Sanu’s personal life has often been marked by turbulence, and his former wife Rita Bhattacharya recently revisited painful memories of their marriage and separation. In a conversation with Film Window, she shared how her journey with him was filled with both support and struggle. “He is a great singer, but as a human being, it would be best to talk about him as little as possible. He was never ambitious. It was my dream to make him a singer; I pushed him. I helped Kumar Sanu become Kumar Sanu,” she said.Their move to Mumbai, Rita recalled, was marked by extreme hardships. “We didn’t have any money or transportation when we came to Mumbai. It was completely zero. He used to wear a lungi at that time. He lies all the time that his family sent him to Mumbai. He should skip the question if he doesn’t want to answer. Why lie? He keeps lying the whole day. Hence, all three of my kids said that it is high time you talk. I used to push him out to go and struggle in Bombay. We used to sleep on the floor without a fan,” she revealed. According to her, things began to change after professional success. “After Aashiqui’s success, he started earning a lot of money, and that’s when he started changing. He became ill-mannered; he was never like that.”Rita also opened up about him having an affair while she was pregnant. She said, “I want to ask something, someone who got married in 1986, won so many awards, had a huge bungalow, so many luxuries, two kids, and one on the way, what all would I have done that he achieved so much success? He became a legend and took me to court on cruelty grounds?”She continued, “He took me to court during my pregnancy. He even had an affair during that time, which came out today. And, he dragged me to court? I was very young at that time, I felt like my whole world crushed, and my family was shocked. He did such a huge party a year ag,o saying I was the reason behind his success.”When one partner feels they sacrificed support for the other’s career, how can resentment shape the dynamics of a marriage?Psychologist Rasshi Gurnani tells indianexpress.com, “When one partner feels they sacrificed significantly for the other’s career, unresolved resentment often manifests as chronic anger, passive-aggressive behavior, or emotional withdrawal. In psychological terms, this creates an imbalance of perceived equity in the relationship.” Over time, she mentions, resentment can erode intimacy, weaken trust, and model dysfunctional relational patterns for children, who may internalise conflict as a norm. Family systems theory shows that unresolved grievances ripple outward, leading to fractured communication and intergenerational tension.Story continues below this adHow do sudden lifestyle changes affect personality, communication, and relationships within families?Sudden lifestyle changes, such as moving from financial struggle to affluence, can create what psychologists call “identity dissonance”. Gurnani states that individuals may struggle to reconcile their old self-concept with new external circumstances, which can alter communication patterns and interpersonal dynamics. Affluence may heighten narcissistic traits in some, reduce empathy, or increase emotional distance if not grounded in self-awareness.Healthier strategies families can use to handle conflict or disappointment insteadCutting off communication between parents and children is deeply harmful to attachment security. Gurnani explains, “From a developmental psychology perspective, such ruptures damage a child’s internal working model of relationships, often resulting in anxiety, low self-worth, and difficulty forming stable bonds later in life. Healthier strategies involve conflict resolution through emotional regulation, active listening, and repair-oriented dialogue. Families benefit from practicing assertive communication while creating space for each member’s voice to be heard.”