Sex siren Silk Smitha's life in pictures

The moment you hear the name, Silk Smitha, the adjectives like sex siren, voluptuous, etc., automatically comes to your mind. That was the power of late actress, who took the bold acts in South cinema to a never-before level during her times.

She was born with the name Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati to a poor family. Her childhood was full of struggles and the life turned harder, as she reached adolescence. Her god gifted beautiful body became a curse at some stage, thereby making her parents to find a groom for her. But unfortunately, her marriage did not last long, as her husband and in-laws treated her badly and Silk eventually ran away from home.

The Innocent Silk

In her early days, in the film industry, Silk Smitha was type-casted and recognised as a cabaret dancer. Her first break-through came in the form of Vandichakkaram. The character name of Silk in the movie became her screen name after the success of this flick.

Silk Knew Her Strengths Well Than Her Contemporaries

Her popularity reached other industries and producers from all South Indian languages queued her up for callsheet. Her bold acts in movies like Moondru Mugam were celebrated by the masses all across South India and she came to be known as the ultimate symbol of sensuality in South Indian cinema.

Silk Smitha Understood The Pulse Of Audience

While critics called her a soft-porn actress, without giving ears to such comments, Silk Smitha daringly wore two-piece and skimpy clothes and proved to be the crowd puller.

Silk Was Sensation

During her peak period, movies, which were in cans for years, got released by the simple addition of a Silk Smitha song. In the later years, she desired to do performance-oriented roles but offers did not come her way to showcase her acting abilities.

Silk Smitha Was Also Called Soft-Porn Actress

However, when such roles came, she grabbed it with both hands. Her acting in Alaigal Oivathillai won thumbs up from critics. In a career spanning over 17 years, she acted in over 450 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bollywood.

Silk Smitha Was A Box Office Queen

Having ruled the hearts of masses for more than two decades, she realised that her charm was fading and turned producer. But it did not work as she anticipated and her production movies bombed at Box Office.

Silk Was Comfortable Wearing Skimpy Outfits

Her failed relationship and financial troubles made her to commit suicide. At the age of 36, she was found dead at her apartment in Chennai on September 23. And the Silk era came to an end.

Silk Smitha Had Huge Fans Followers In Four South States

Last year, a biopic on Silk Smitha was made in Bollywood. Vidya Balan played the role of Silk Smitha in the Hindi movie, The Dirty Picture.

Silk's Acting Prowess Often Went Unnoticied

However, the makers of The Dirty Picture later denied that it was a biopic of Silk and claimed that it was inspired by the life of some of the popular sex sirens on 80s like Nylon Nalini and Disco Shanti.

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There was a great life awaiting her when she came to her aunt's house in Chennai. Initially, she worked as a touch-up artist for a B-grade actress and it helped her to bag small roles. But her fate changed after being spotted by multifaceted Vinu Chakravarthy, who rechristened her as Silk Smitha. He and his wife helped her to learn dance and acting skills.