Interview with Runa Laila

Time and again Runa Laila has proven that she is a living legend. Be it frothy pop, poignant ballads, deep adhunik, classic ghazal or emotive playback - the Bangladeshi diva’s reputation goes beyond borders. She has ardent admirers around the globe.

Runa started learning classical music at a very early age and received vigorous training from Ustad Habibuddin Khan. She made her first public debut as a singer at the age of six and cut her first disc for a Pakistani film called “Jugnu” at the age of twelve. She can sing in seventeen languages, including her mother language Bangla, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Spanish Japanese and Italian. She has sung and recorded over 5000 songs.

Runa Laila performed at two shows in Mumbai and Kolkata — organised by the Times of India (one of the leading Indian newspapers) — on January 22 and January 24, 2010 respectively.

“The experience was absolutely overwhelming! The turn out in Mumbai was great! It was held at the Bandra Fort, which is a heritage site. We were expecting a crowd of 2,000 people, but more turned up. The fact that not only my peers, but people of all ages had gathered, was heartening. This one particular gentleman approached me after the show and said that if he died at that moment, he would have no regret. That was an overwhelming compliment,” says Runa.

“Many renowned Indian musicians like Hariharan, Ila Arun and director Imtiaz Ali were among the smitten admirers. The Pakistani band Strings was also present. I had a three-hour performance in Mumbai,” she says.

According to the Times of India, Runa’s Mumbai concert “turned into a free-flowing private mehfil of sorts. She easily alternated between ‘Babu Chhail Chhabila’ to the cult ghazal ‘Ranjish Hi Sahih’, supremely confident in her ability to make a seamless transition. The evening wore on, though listeners wished that time would stop. The ’80s were revived with ghazal like ‘Tum Aaye Ho’, followed by some enthusiastic Bengali and Punjabi songs, leading on to the impromptu performance of her famous numbers from the film ‘Gharaunda’. She finished with the signature ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’, which brought listeners to their feet.”

The show in Kolkata had an audience of about 8,000. It was a memorable event as well.

Being a judge on musical talent hunts in both Bangladesh and India, how does she view potential talents? “There is perhaps a difference in the two countries on this front. In India, the participants on the talent hunts come after years of training, when they feel ready. In Bangladesh however, in a lot of cases, the participants have little or almost no knowledge or training in music. It is not entirely their fault, as they do not get the opportunities to hone their skills. Also there is this problem here that once a contestant wins a show, after a while they are out of sight on the media. This should not be the case. In India they highlight these emerging artistes in many ways.

“These young talents must be nurtured, because many of them have the potential. The TV channels and the print media should take the responsibility of providing them the exposure they need.

“At the same time, these up and coming performers must also set themselves to be on par with the competition so they can bring out and offer quality works.

“I often urge music directors of our country to give these young talents opportunities but usually the response I get is that they will not be able to cope with it. But in reality they need opportunities to prove themselves. This scenario must change,” says the seasoned singer.

Views on contemporary musicians? “Some of them are really good but, again, the exposure is not enough. The market has not grown enough. Music piracy is another nuisance. There are many gifted music directors and composers as well who are not getting the opportunity they deserve. But I believe there’s a lot of promise in our music arena,” says Runa.

Nusrat Jahan Pritom

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