Alaigal Oivathillai to Moondram Pirai: Six memorable roles of Silk Smitha

One of the most sought-after actresses in the 80s, Silk Smitha has over 450 movies to her credit. In a career spanning almost 17 years, she has acted in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi film industries. Though she was known as a sex symbol, Silk Smitha had done several powerful roles as well. With her 6oth birth anniversary falling on December 2, here’s a look at some memorable roles the actress had done in Kollywood…

In her debut film, Vijayalakshmi aka Silk Smitha played an arrack seller, Silk. Her performance was so impactful, she later came to be known as Silk Smitha. The film, directed by Vijayan and written by Vinu Chakravarthy, marked Sivakumar’s 101^st film.

In Bharathirajaa’s pathbreaking love story, Silk Smitha played Elissy, the submissive wife of David (Thiagarajan) who is at war with herself. The sequences in which she stands guard outside the bathroom when her husband molests their maid – all in an attempt to protect the honour of the family – is one of her best performances ever.

Balu Mahendra’s poignant romantic drama was about a school teacher Cheenu (Kamal Haasan), who cares for a retrograde amnesia patient Viji (Sridevi), who regresses to the state of a child. Silk Smitha played the wife of Cheenu’s school’s headmaster, who is attracted to him. A song picturised on her and Kamal – Ponmeni Uruguthey – is still popular.

SP Muthuraman’s blockbuster had Silk Smitha playing Lalitha, a dancer in a club, who shares a romantic bond with the already-married Pazhani (Raveendran), but cheats on him when Velu (Kamal Haasan) bribes her brother to spend more time with her. Her performance in the sequences where she realises her brother’s evil plans of eliminating Pazhani and takes Velu’s help to save him brings out the talented actress in her. The film features one of Silk’s all-time hits, Nethu Rathiri.

A sleeper hit that went on to have over 100 days run at the BO, Kozhi Koovuthu starred Prabhu, Suresh, Viji and Silk Smitha in the lead. She played Chittu, a feisty young girl who sells musical instruments, in the film. Directed by Gangai Amaren, the movie had music by Ilaiyaraaja. Poove Ilaiya Poove is one of the memorable songs picturised on her and Prabhu.

YV Gopikrishnan’s Silk Silk Silk helped establish Silk Smitha as a bankable actress. The movie had Silk playing the role of Priya, a dancer who gets caught in a war between the cops and a smuggling gang. The movie also proved to be a good one in the career of Raguvaran.