Silk Smitha Death Anniversary: Lesser known facts about the actress

South actress Silk Smitha passed away on September 23, 1996

She was born on December 2, 1960, in Elluru, Andhra Pradesh. Her real name was Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati

She left school after class four due to her family's financial constraints

Silk Smitha made her acting debut in 1978 with the Kananda film ‘Bedi’

She rose to fame with ‘Vandichakkaram’, in which she portrayed the character of a bar girl named Silk - which later went onto become her stage name

She acted in more than 450 films during her career

While many know that Vidya Balan's 'The Dirty Picture' was based on her life, the south star was also brought to life by former actress Sana Khan in the Malayalam film 'Climax'

She did many item numbers in films likes ‘Vandichakkaram’, ‘Justice Raja’, ‘Kiratham’, ‘Antham’, ‘Mafia’, ‘Lockup Death’, and ‘Gentalman Security'

Her last film which released in 1996 was ‘Subash’