Vijaya Shanthi was born to Varalaxmi and Srinivas Prasad on June 24, 1966, in Madras (Madras State). They emigrated to Madras from Ramannagudem in Warangal District, Telangana. She is the niece of Telugu actress and producer Vijayalalitha. She finished her 10th class at Indian Angels Anglo-Indian Senior High School in Holy Angels, Chennai before starting her film career.  

she has acted in 187 films with different kind of roles in various languages mostly in Telugu, in addition to Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has been called "The Action Queen of Indian Cinema" and "The Lady Superstar"  

She won the Best Actress National Film Award for her work as a “Super Policeman” in Karthavyam (1990), for her portrait of aggression and femininity with restraint and balance. She has also won six Best Actor Awards and a 2003 Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (South), seven Filmfare Awards (South), and four Nandi Awards for Best Actor.  

She was the only actress to demand high remuneration, equivalent to her male counterparts in the 1990s. Her earnings for the Telugu Karthavyam movie amounted to 1 crore, the highest ever paid to an actress during this period. She joined state policy in 1998.  

She married a real estate businessman, Mr V. Srinivas Prasad. He produced a film in 1993 named Nippu Ravva, starring Nandamuri Balakrishna and Vijayashanti under the Yuvarathna Arts banner.