Chennai, Nov. 1: Actors Kamal Haasan and Gautami Tadimallah have parted ways after living together for 13 years. Gautami announced the break-up in her blog today, also revealing that the relationship had soured in the last two years.

"It is heartbreaking for me to have to say today that I and Mr. Haasan are no longer together. After almost 13 years together, it has been one of the most devastating decisions that I have ever had to make in my life," Gautami, 48, said.

"It is never easy for anyone in a committed relationship to realise that their paths have irreversibly diverged and that the only choices in front of them are to either compromise with their dreams for life or to accept the truth of their solitude and move ahead.

"It has taken me a very long time, a couple of years at the very least, to accept this heartbreaking truth and come to this decision."

A cancer survivor, Gautami has a 17-year-old daughter, Subalakshmi, from her first marriage. She and Kamal, 60, have been together since 2003 after the Tamil superstar's divorce from Sarika, his second wife. Sarika is the mother of Kamal's actor-daughters, Shruti and Akshara.

Kamal, Gautami and the three girls used to appear together in public, like a happy family. "We have always felt that all the three girls are ours," Gautami had once said, harping on the compatibility between the families.

Gautami has been designing costumes for Kamal's movies for a while. The two paired together on screen in 2015, playing a married couple in Papansasam, the Tamil remake of the Malayalam hit, Drishyam.

Gautami told a Tamil news channel today that Kamal had taken the break-up news in a mature way. She said she would complete her assignment as costume designer for his ongoing venture Sabash Naidu, whose shoot has resumed after three months as Kamal had fractured his knee.

A ladies' man, Kamal was romantically linked with many heroines while he was married to Vani Ganapathy, a Bharatanatyam dancer from Bangalore. They divorced when Kamal got involved with Sarika.

It was only when Sarika got pregnant that Kamal formalised his live-in relationship with her "for the sake of Sarika and our children". Sarika ended the marriage after Kamal reportedly got involved with actress Simran when they did two movies in 2001.

With Kamal single again, Gautami, who had always been a fan and admirer, entered his life as a partner even as she came out of a bitter divorce. Kamal has gratefully acknowledged that she never pressured him to marry her, although they played doting parents to her daughter.

When Gautami was diagnosed with breast cancer, she fought the disease with the support of Kamal and her friends. She even got Kamal involved as a campaigner for cancer awareness.

"The two had shown that a relationship need not be formal to be beautiful and mutually supportive. It is unfortunate that it has ended so suddenly," said a senior film actor and a good friend of both.