The Remarkable Career of L. R. Eswari
Song sequences in Indian popular cinema play a central role in organizing affect and desire through imagery and sound. These songs feature the voices of “playback” singers, so named because their voices are first recorded in the studio and then lip-synced by the actors and actresses on the set during the filming process. This chapter examines how playback singing, which emerged as a professional career possibility in the 1950s, produced new forms of stardom and opportunities for women to enter the public sphere, while serving as a key site for the creation and circulation of ideologies and aesthetics of gender and voice. In particular, it will examine the career and persona of L.R. Eswari, who, although she did not start out as such, came to be branded as a “vampy” singer in the late 1960s Tamil film industry, subsequently made a name for herself in devotional music in the 1970s and 80s, and has recently re-emerged as a playback singer in the last few years.