Runa Laila

Early life

Laila was born on 17 November 1952 in Sylhet, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). Her father Syed Mohammed Imdad Ali belonged to a Bengali family of Muslim Syeds from Rajshahi. He was a civil servant posted in various towns such as Sylhet and Karachi. Her mother, Amina Laila (), was a musical artist and came from a Bengali Hindu family based in Upper Assam. Her maternal uncle, Subir Sen, was a notable Indian playback singer. She started taking dance lessons of Kathak and Bharatanatyam genre. In those days, Ahmed Rushdi was the leading film singer who introduced rock n roll, disco and other modern genres to South Asian music. Following Rushdi's success, Christian bands specialising in jazz started performing at various night clubs and hotel lobbies in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Dhaka and Lahore. Laila became a fan of singer Ahmed Rushdi whom she considered her guru (teacher), and tried to emulate not only his singing style but also the way he used to perform on the stage. She then learned classical music with her elder sister Dina Laila (d. 1976). While she was a student of Saint Lawrence Convent, she won an inter-school singing competition in Karachi in the then West Pakistan. She, along with her sister, were trained by Ustad Abdul Kader Peyarang and Ustad Habibuddin Ahmed.

Career

In 1966, Laila made her breakthrough in the Pakistani film industry with the song Unki Nazron Sey Mohabbat Ka Jo Paigham Mila for the Urdu film Hum Dono. She used to perform on PTV. In PTV, she had a show called Bazm E Laila. She started appearing on the Zia Mohyuddin Show (1972–74) and later sang songs for films in the 1970s such as the film Umrao Jaan Ada (1972).

Laila moved to Bangladesh along with her family in 1974. She started in Bollywood with director Jaidev, whom she met in Delhi, got her the chance to play at the inauguration of Doordarshan. She gained popularity in India with the songs O Mera Babu Chail Chabila and Dama Dam Mast Qalandar. In 1974, she recorded Shaadher Lau in Kolkata. Laila's name has been written on the Guinness World Records for recording 30 songs within 3 days. In 1982, she won Golden Disk Award as her album Superuna composed by Bappi Lahiri was sold over 1 lakh copies on the first day of its release.

In October 2009, Laila released Kala Sha Kala, a collection of Punjabi wedding songs, in India. In 2012, Laila served as a judge on the show Sur Kshetra, an Indian television contest show for amateur singers. She described her relationship with fellow judge Asha Bhosle as that of sisters. In 2014, she collaborated with Sabina Yasmin on a song for a television play "Dalchhut Projapoti", the first time they worked on a song together. Laila has sung in seventeen languages including her native Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Pashto, Baluchi, Arabic, Persian, Malay, Nepalese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French and English.

Personal life

Laila has been married three times. She first married Khawaja Javed Kaiser, secondly a Swiss citizen named Ron Daniel and then actor Alamgir. She has a daughter Tani.

Charity

After her sister died in 1976 from cancer, Laila held several charity concerts in Dhaka. The money raised was used to build a cancer hospital in Dhaka. She is the first Bangladeshi to hold this post. She visited New Delhi in 2013 on her first trip as the SAARC ambassador. She met India's External and Health ministers.

Discography

Main article: List of songs recorded by Runa Laila

• Sincerely Yours (1973)
• Runa Laila Sings Songs Of Talib-Ul-Maulla (1974)
• Great Ghazals - Runa Laila (Style) (1981)
• Runa in Pakistan (Geet) and (Ghazals) (1980)
• Bappi Lahiri Presents Runa Laila - Superuna (1982)
• Runa Goes Disco (1982)
• Sings For Umrao Jaan Ada (Ghazals) (1985)
• Ganga Amar Ma Padma Amar Ma (1996)
• Bazm-E-Laila (2007)
• Runa Laila-Kala Siah Kala (2010)

Awards

• Radio Mirchi Music Award presented by Radio Mirchi at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata (2015)
• Independence Day Award, Bangladesh
• Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer (1976, 1977, 1989, 1994, 2012, 2013 and 2014)
• Sheltech Award, Bangladesh
• Lux-Channel I Lifetime Performance Award, Bangladesh
• Saigal Award, India
• Nigar Award, Pakistan (1968, 1970)
• Critics Award, Pakistan
• Graduate Award, Pakistan
• Firoza Begum Memorial Gold Medal, Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Music Journalists Association (BMJA) lifetime achievement award, 2020

References

References

1. "Like music itself, a singer has no boundaries: Runa Laila". [[The Times of India]].
2. (17 November 2016). "Many Happy Returns to Runa Laila". The Daily Star.
3. Arnold, Alison. (2000). "The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music". Taylor & Francis.
4. (2003). "Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema". Popular Prakashan.
5. "Saga of the Melody Queen | Singer, National film awards, Romantic songs".
6. (8 November 2019). "National Film Awards for 2017 and 2018 announced". The Daily Star.
7. (17 November 2014). "রুনা লায়লা সম্পর্কে কতটা জানেন?". [[Banglanews24.com]].
8. link. Jugantor
9. link. Manab Zamin
10. "Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in Pakistan". [[Chowk (magazine).
11. Sharma, Devesh. "Beyond borders Runa Laila". Times Internet Limited.
12. "Runa Laila celebrates 50-year in music". Prothom Alo.
13. "Ebong Runa Laila' this Eid". Prothom Alo.
14. (6 October 2018). "The Nightingale Speaks". The Daily Star.
15. Tasbir Iftekhar. (6 October 2018). "Saga of the Melody Queen". The Daily Star.
16. Jamil, Syed Maqsud. "Songs of the Sixties". The Daily Star.
17. Wahid, Shahnoor. "Runa Laila". The Daily Star.
18. "The PTV cadre maintained its character". The News International.
19. "I had a crush on Shashi Kapoor but he was married: Runa Laila". Hindustan Times.
20. Ferdous, Fahmim. "Shine bright like a diamond". The Daily Star.
21. "Music Today present's Runa Laila's album Kala Sha Kala, A collection of Punjabi folk melodies".
22. "Runa Laila". In.com India.
23. "Ashaji and I have become like sisters: Runa Laila". The Times of India.
24. Shazu, Shah Alam. "Revisiting the music scene of '14". The Daily Star.
25. "Celebrating the legacy of Runa Laila". The Daily Star.
26. Sanskriti Website. "Runa Laila". Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA).
27. "Runa Laila SAARC Goodwill Ambassador". bdnews24.com.
28. "Runa Laila to tour New Delhi". bdnews24.com.
29. "Runa Laila receives Mirchi Music Award". Dhaka Tribune.
30. (4 April 2015). "PM distributes National Film Award". Dhaka Tribune.
31. (3 October 2021). "Runa Laila gets lifetime achievement award". Daily Sun.