Raw silk!

The travails of ‘Silk' Smitha and other actresses who have played the role of vamps have been highlighted by Milan Luthra's The Dirty Picture . Rare is the filmmaker who has looked beyond their ‘oomph' factor at the histrionic talent many of them had in plenty.

‘Silk' Smitha, for instance, made her debut in the Tamil movie Vandi Chakaram as an arrack seller. The movie even had a foot-tapping hit song highlighting the pleasures of drinking arrack out of Silk's hand! After her debut, Smitha had few roles that showcased her acting ability, until in 1981 one of Tamil cinema's greatest directors, Bharatiraja, came up with his classic Alaigal Oyvathillai . Here Smitha played the role of her lifetime as the heroine's sister-in-law. She reprised the role in the Telugu remake too. Reviews then were never complete without a word on her creditable performance.

That, however, did not prove enough to change her well-established ‘vamp' image. She went on to do yet another item number in Sakalakalavallavan .

But there was one other significant role she played, as the second heroine in Kozhi Koovuthu , directed by music maestro Ilayaraja's brother Gangai Amaran. As one who pines for the hero, Smitha performed wonderfully in a role that also had a bit of comedy element attached to it.

Though she played an important role in Moondram Pirai , as the wife of a school headmaster, a raunchy dream song sequence with Kamalhasan made one wonder if that was the reason she was given this role. Later, playback singer S. Janaki refused to sing songs that featured Smitha.

The double standards surrounding actresses like her came into sharper focus following her tragic death; after she committed suicide, hardly 10 people from the film industry turned up at her house to pay homage to the departed soul.

COMMENT NOW