Vijayashanti was born on 24 June 1966 to Satti Srinivas Prasad and Varalakshmi in Chennai. She is the niece of the famous Telugu actress and producer Vijayalalitha. She completed her 10th class at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai, before starting her film career at the age of 14 in 1980. She played a character role in the Tamil film Kallukkul Eeram, directed by P S Nivas starring Bharathiraja. In the same year, she debuted in Telugu cinema with the movie Kilaadi Krishnudu, opposite Krishna, directed by Vijaya Nirmala. She got a role in the Telugu film Satyam-Sivam in 1981, a multi-starer movie having N T Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
Initially, she played many character roles, and then in movies like Pellichoopulu (1983), she was recognized as a star. This was a remake of K Bhagyaraj's Tamil film Thooral Ninnu Picchu. Her breakthrough movie was Neti Bharatam of 1983, a women-centric movie directed by T Krishna. In 1985, T Krishna again cast her in Pratighatana, one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, making her landmark powerful performance in the song "Ee Dhuryodhana Dusshasana", penned by legendary lyricist Veturi and powerfully sung by S Janaki.
In 1992 "Mondi Mogudu Penki Pellam" was released, a movie in which Vijayashanti played a bold lady speaking Telangana slang and delivered the career-defining song "Laloo Darwaja Laskar". In the 1990s, Vijayashanti was the only actress demanding the highest remuneration in India, equal to her co-stars Rajnikanth and Chiranjeevi. She did 19 films with Chiranjeevi, and 17 films with Balakrishna, most of them were huge hits and her on-screen chemistry was a huge success on par with the box office. In K Viswanath's Swayam Krushi, where she acts as an illiterate woman who falls in love with a cobbler played by Chiranjeevi. She acted with Rajinikanth in the film Mannan, and with Kamal Haasan as an investigative reporter in Indrudu Chandrudu. She acted in two movies with Malayalam superstars Suresh Gopi, Yuvathurki, and Kallu Kondoru Pennu. She produced the film Nippu Ravva in 1993, starring Balakrishna, under the banner Yuvarathna Arts.
In 1989, she was introduced to Hindi cinema by K Viswanath opposite Anil Kapoor in the film Eeshwar, a remake of his Telugu film Swathi Muthyam. Her other Hindi films are Muqaddar Ka Badshaah, Apradhi, Gundagardi, Zamaanat. Vijayashanthi reached the status of a "HERO" with movies like Karthavyam under the direction of Mohan Gandhi for which she won the National Film Award from the Government of India and an Andhra Pradesh State award for best actress. Vijayashanti didn't rely on stunt doubles for performing risky stunts in many films. Karthavyam dubbed into Tamil as Vyjayanthi IPS brought her fame in Tamil cinema.
A M Ratnam, Vijayashanti's personal make-up man, turned out to be a money-making producer. In Police Lockup she played a dual role, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna, for which she won another Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her other acclaimed women's films are Osey Ramulamma, Adavi Chukka, and Rowdy Durbar, directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. Vijayashanti returned to cinema after a sabbatical of 13 years, starring in the 2020 film Sarileru Neekevvaru starring Mahesh Babu.
In 1998, Vijayashanti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and was soon made the secretary of BJP's Women's Wing. She started her own political party, Talli Telangana, in January 2009, which she merged into Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) due to a lack of strength and support. Vijayashanti married real estate businessman M V Srinivas Prasad in 1988. He is a nephew of Daggubati Purandareswari.
