The famous actress and playback singer of early Indian cinema, Amirbai Karnataki was fluent in Kannada and Gujarati languages. Her elder sister, Gauhernai was also an actress and helped Amirbai get a role in the 1934 film Vishnu Bhakti. In the 1930s, she started to sing songs in the movies, but failed to attain the success she desired, but with the release of the song ‘Dheere Dheere Aa Re Baadal’ from the 1943 film Kismet, she finally achieved fame. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song ‘Viashnav Jan To’, which was written by poet Narsinh Mehta in the 15th century. She was married to actor Himalay Vala, but her marriage with the actor was full of ups and downs, thus her sister helped her in getting divorce. Later, she married Badri Kaanchwala, the editor of Paras.