The emergence of singers in Bombay, Madras, and other film industries of India, as musical models to be admired and remembered, coincided with the ascendancy of film songs as the dominant mode of entertainment. In the 1950s, many a south-Indian film song belonged to playback singers such as R. Balasaraswati Devi, K. Jamuna Rani, Jikki Krishnaveni, P. Leela, and the singing actress P. Bhanumati, whose popularity and stardom flourished and remained independent of ...
