|
 Runa Laila, who
became famous world wide for her song Dumadum
Mast Kalander though may be more well known as a
pop singer, is an accomplished ghazal singer
too. Classically trained she has dabbed in
various genres of music and sings ghazals,
mostly composed by others, rather well.
Born to a
Bengali family in Karachi in what was then
undivided Pakistan, she took early lessons in
classical music. Endowed with good voice and
right aptitude was soon quite good at singing.
This brought her the first break when in 1964,
she was invited to sing as a playback singer for
a film. After that success, she regularly
started getting playback singing offers, and
success came without much trouble for young Runa
Laila.
Her first
programs in India were organized by government
of India in 1974. She sang ghazals, geet-s and
folk songs and was well received. Her family
then migrated to Bangladesh, which by then had
become independent, separating from Pakistan.
Her "Damadum Mast Kalandar" song
became a major hit in India. In 1982 she did a
couple of pop albums in India, which were big
hits.
Influence of
Mehdi Hassan on her ghazal singing is enormous.
Apart from Mehdi Hassan, perhaps, she sings best
the evergreen ghazal Ranjish Hi Sahi.
All along she
kept recording ghazals and geet-s, producing her
first ghazal-geet album in 1988. She now lives
in Bangaldesh where she is a prominent playback
singer. |
