Runa and her magic web of melodies

Runa Laila

"When I was nine, I took part in an inter school singing competition arranged by Radio Pakistan Karachi, and won the first prize. When I was 12, a producer from Lahore asked me to record a song for his film Jugnu. Initially my father objected to it but finally he got convinced. I myself was excited and often dreamed of being a part of the film industry." Runa recorded her first song and from then on there was no stopping her. This was even though, for some time, at the beginning, she had to juggle her studies in Karachi with her singing in Lahore.

Asked to give the names of her favourite singers and songs, she says that she admires Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Mohammed Rafi, Noorjehan, Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hassan. "I've sung with many of them, including Mehdi Hassan, Ahmed Rushdi, Mala and Ghulam Ali in Pakistan. In India I've sung with Mohammed Rafi and Bhupender Singh," Runa says. "A song that has a special place in my heart is my first song for a Bangla film Shorolipi, composed by Shubol Das, with its words Ganeri khataey shorolipi likhey bolo ki hobey. Apart from that there are songs that have been popular like Bondhu teen din tor barit gelam, composed by Alauddin Ali. I've sung for all the music directors in Bangladesh, old and young."

Comparing her days in Karachi with those in Dhaka, Runa says that she was with her parents in Multan, Islamabad and Karachi, and that these were carefree days. She went to school and college in Karachi and was totally happy, without the many responsibilities and tensions of adult existence. Her teachers at the convent felt that with all her recording at Lahore she might not find the time to study for good grades. She told her headmistress that if her grades fell then only did she have reasons to complain. She had two distinctions in metric and did her graduation later in Dhaka.

Talking about whether it was easy to follow up her career in Bangladesh, Runa says that she did not know much about the film industry and didn't have the feel of the place. She was only acquainted with films that went to Karachi like Chanda and Chakori. "Bangla music is totally different from Pakistani music, although the base is the same classical music. I had to mould my voice to a different style of singing."

Dwelling on the film Shilpi that she had made, Runa explains that it was loosely built around her own life. It was fictionalised for commercial purposes. The younger version of the main character was played earlier by her daughter Tani. Filmmakers in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh had approached her to make films but she wanted to concentrate on singing. However, Chashi Nazrul Islam had convinced her that it would be a sober film. She found the director and co-artistes like Alamgir and Pijush Bandyopadya very helpful and it proved to be an enjoyable film for her. She felt dubbing of the dialogue was the most important part and worried that she may not do it well.

Runa has won three national film awards in Bangladesh and a Nigar award in Pakistan.