Early days of women in Bombay films

“Interestingly, it is Saraswati Devi herself who is credited with introducing the playback system in Indian cinema. According to legend, Chandraprabha nee Manek had to shoot a song sequence but had a sore throat. Himansu Rai suggested that Khorshed sing into the microphone instead while Manek moved her lips in a synchronized manner. And thus was the playback mode devised. The stories of women’s work in film, told through certain moments of irruption, also yield details of practice and innovation that tend to get obscured in the rush to glorify watershed transformative moments.” From

Notes on a Scandal: Writing Women’s Film History Against an Absent Archive
Debashree Mukherjee