New Delhi: In 2023, Silk Smitha with her sultry voice graced the screens of Tamil cinema once again in Adhik Ravichandran’s time travel comedy-drama, Mark Antony. But the blink-and-miss scene was a computer-generated imagery of the actor. It highlights one of the more problematic legacies of South Indian cinema—the memory of Silk Smitha as an actor to objectify.
Even today, 28 years after her untimely death by suicide on 23 September 1996, her body of work and pathbreaking life remain eclipsed by the sex siren pedestal she’s been put on.
Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati, from a village in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district, was found dead in Chennai at the age of 35, with more than 450 movie credits to her name, all under the stage name of Silk Smitha.
“Films that had lain in cans for years were sold by the simple addition of a Silk Smitha song,” said noted film critic Randor Guy, highlighting the success that the actor earned during her 17 years in the industry.
With movies across languages—Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi— Smitha worked with some of the most well-known names in Indian cinema such as Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. However, in popular memory, she remains an erotic figure.
Movies were her refuge after she was forced to drop out of school at the age of 10, and was married at 14, according to reports. Chennai, the city she ran away to, became her home.
Character actor at heart
Silk Smitha aimed to be a character actor, similar to Savithri, Sujatha or Saritha. However, after Vandichakkaram (1980), she came to be known for even making the line “let’s go to the temple” sound sexy, according to S. Theodore Baskaran, as reported by Livemint.
“But in my second film Vandichakkaram (her first film in Tamil), I was put in a glamour role. It was in that film that I played the character called ‘Silk’ Smitha….. (Laughs). It was actually a very good role and people liked my performance. It led to more and more glamour roles,” said Smitha in a 1984 interview with Filmfare.
While acting as a profession was kind to her, allowing her financial freedom, her roles remained limited to the whims and fancies of the producers and directors. Her acting skills were appreciated in the movies where she got a serious role.
In 1981, Smitha was cast in Alaigal Oivathillai, directed by Bharathiraja, considered one of the best directors in Indian cinema. Her role as Elissy saw her stand up to her husband by the end of the film, even as she stood by and let him sexually assault their maid at the mid-point in the film. The character’s support for an inter-religious relationship, dealing with the guilt of her husband’s actions and seeking her own redemption stands out in the movie. It deals with one of the most pressing issues seen even today across the country—that of a Hindu boy marrying a Christian girl.
Then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MG Ramachandran (MGR), part of the 1960s triumvirate of male stars alongside Gemini Ganesan and Sivaji Ganesan, reportedly held a function to felicitate the actors of the movie, drawing specific attention to Smitha’s role.
The praise from MGR came in the early days of Smitha’s career. By 1984, she had over 200 films to her credit and by 1996, over 450.
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Enigma in both life and death
Known for her small circle of friends, the life of Silk Smitha was closely followed by the tabloids of the day. Her success stirred jealousy, leading to rumours of her being difficult as an actor or disrespectful as a person.
“My career has been short. Just about four years and in this time I have acted in over 200 films. Naturally, there must be several people who are jealous of my success. I think it is such people who are behind all this malicious propaganda. They’re trying to damage my reputation,” Smitha told Filmfare.
A trip to Singapore with famous music director M.S. Viswanathan and his family did not end very well. The actor faced a number of issues during the trip. For someone who lit the silver screen with her dance moves, she was shy in person to dance in front of crowds. Her condition for the trip was that she would not dance on a stage during the trip. However, as Smitha told Filmfare, it was not to be.
After being introduced to the audience in Singapore at a function, she said namaskaram and left the stage but the people clamoured for her to dance. M.S. Viswanathan asked her to oblige, and she refused, as she described to Filmfare. The next day, Viswanathan and family returned to India, while Smitha was left behind in a foreign land.
But her ordeal did not end there. As she returned to India, enforcement officials checked her luggage after being tipped off that she was smuggling goods. They found nothing and left, however, for the public, this was just another incident to tar the reputation of Smitha.
In life, she challenged the orthodoxy of the day through her roles; in death, she left an industry shocked, with answers yet to be found. When her body was found 28 years ago, rumours and conspiracies swelled, yet the truth has never been established.
CGI caricatures in movies like Mark Antony barely scratch the surface of an actor who carved a path to the top of South Indian cinema.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)