Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati (2 December 1960 – 23 September 1996), better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Smitha was part of several successful dance numbers in the 1980s Indian films. She entered the industry as a supporting actress, and was first noticed for her role as "Silk" in the 1979 Tamil film, Vandichakkaram. She became a major and Important role in Tamil cinema was the most sought-after erotic actress in the 1980s. In a career spanning 17 years, she appeared in over 450 films. Early life Smitha was born in a Telugu family, to Ramallu and Sarasamma in Kovvali village, Denduluru Mandal, Eluru. She left school after fourth standard (when she was about 10 years of age) due to the family's financial constraints. Her striking looks burdened her with uninvited attention, and her family married her off at a very young age. Her husband and in-laws treated her poorly and she soon ran away. Smitha started as a touch-up artist for an actress and soon got a break in small character roles. She got her first movie as a heroine by Malayalam director Anthony Eastman in his film "Inaye Thedi", though the movie got released very much later. Anthony gave her the name Smitha. She got her big break in Tamil by director Vinu Chakravarthy. He took her under his wing; his wife taught her English and arranged for her to learn dancing, though soon, due to her marked sex appeal, she switched to roles of cabaret dancers and vamps and inevitably found herself typecast. After garnering much notice and acclaim with her first major role in the Tamil film Vandichakkaram, in 1979, Smitha assumed the screen name "Silk", after her character's name in the movie. After it became a big hit, she could not escape typecasting, severely limiting her range throughout her career. Smitha went on to star in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and a few Hindi films. Her dance numbers and bold performances in films like Moondru Mugam made her the ultimate symbol of sensuality in South Indian cinema. Her item numbers in films like Amaran, Halli Meshtru (in Kannada) were also celebrated at the box office. Some film critics, historians and journalists have referred to her as a "soft porn" actress. A vast majority of her movies are considered "softcore"