‘Never seen a warm, wonderful and intelligent woman like Silk,’ says Khushbu Sundar

Actor‑turned‑politician Khushbu Sundar has spoken about the moment she first met the late screen sensation Silk Smitha, admitting the encounter left her “utterly speechless.”

Recounting the episode to Galatta Tamil, the BJP leader said it happened in 1984 during the shoot of an experimental silent film in which she and fledgling actor Arjun were cast. However, the movie was never completed.

“Everyone kept saying, ‘Madam is on her way,’” Khushbu recalled. “When she finally walked in, my jaw just dropped. She was only a few years older than me, yet I’d never seen anyone who was so comfortable with her looks and her body.”

“I have never seen such a warm, wonderful, and intelligent woman like Silk,” she added.

Born Vadlapati Vijayalakshmi, Smitha rose to prominence after her breakout role in the 1979 Tamil drama Vandichakkaram, adopting the moniker that would make her an icon. Over an 18‑year career, she appeared in more than 450 films across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi, becoming one of Indian cinema’s defining stars of the 1980s and early ’90s. She died by suicide in 1996 at the age of just 35.

Khushbu, who herself debuted as a child artiste in Bollywood’s The Burning Train (1980), and has since featured in over 185 films, said it was Smitha’s warmth and intellect that struck her most. “She was disarmingly gracious and incredibly intelligent,” she said — qualities that made her realise true stardom doesn’t shout; it walks in quietly and fills the room. (With inputs from Agencies)