Biography

Shashimukhi was a nautch girl of Sonagachhi, a notorious red light area of Calcuuta and worked for the Classic Theatre. She was only about thirteen, when she had been to a wealthy Bengalee gentleman's house in Calcutta for a song and dance performance, called mujrah in the local language. Here she was spotted by Mr. Frederick William Gaisberg, who was in Calcutta, Bengal, British India in connection with the first recording session of The Gramophone Company in India. Although Mr. Gaisberg felt that she had a horrible voice, he chose her (along with another girl of the same background and who was as young as her, called Phanibala) as a recording artiste of The Gramophone Company in the event of non-availability of a better voice. The two girls first recorded their songs on the eleventh day of November,1902. The record was number-E 1001. They recorded successfully a number of other songs solo on later occasions. Shashimukhi went on to act in a number of films like, Joydev (1926), Shankaracharya (1927), Shasti Ki Shanti (1928), Jugalangriya (1929) and others. Shashimukhi had a relatively short film career although she had been an established stage actress of the period.
- IMDb mini biography by: Dr. Jyoti Prakash Guha<jyotiprakasguha@rediffmail.com>

Shashimukhi and Phanibala were the first two artistes of the Gramophone Company in India and thus became the first recording artistes of India.