Thursday, November 11, 2010



Runa Laila is a singer. She was Bengali origin and born in Karachi Pakistan. Runa Laila left Pakistan in 1974 but she will be remembered as a big Pakistani female singer. Runa Laila was ranked as the third best female singer in Pakistan after Madam Noor Jehan and Mala. Runa ruled the music world like a princess. Her dramatic rise was nothing less than a thunder in the domain of playback singing. The richness of her attractive voice and her mastery of the words left the public spell-bound. Partly because of her superb intonation, her songs were recorded for almost all leading actresses of her days, including Zeba, Shabnam, Rani and Sangeeta. She was introduced in film Ham Dono in 1966 by Nashaad and her first song Un ki nazron se mohabbat ka jo pegham mila was a superhit song. She was a darling of the Karachi media and was promoted very efficiently against Madam Noor Jehan's dominance. Now She left Pakistan in 1974 and now she is Bangladesh and she is also very popular bangali singer in Bangladesh. One of the most prodigious and eminent discovery of sixties which the Pakistanis had yet seen was the charming Runa Laila. For more than a decade, Runa ruled the music world like a princess. She received the fair share of both songs and ghazals, which eventually paid enormous dividends, primarily, because she did her utmost to meet or exceed the higher standards of her times. Her dramatic rise was nothing less than a thunder in the domain of playback singing. The richness of her attractive voice and her mastery of the words left the public spell-bound. Partly because of her superb intonation, her songs were recorded for almost all leading actresses of her days, including Zeba, Shabnam, Rani and Sangeeta. One of her earliest and major breakthrough came in 1965, when she sang a duet "Masoom sa chehra hai" (Runa, Rushdi: Rishta hai pyar ka) this was an instant success which established her as a foremost singer of very high repute. Sky was the limit for her. One great movie was followed by another and one super hit song was followed by another. One of the most potential reason among many for the distinct status of Runa has to do with the splendid compositions of our brilliant composer, Nisar Bazmi. Each and every song which was composed by Nisar Bazmi and sung by Runa added accolades to her already great name.

Some of them are:
Aap dil ki anjuman mein (Anjuman), Dil dharkay mein tum say (Anjuman), Kaatay na katay (Umrao jan ada), Maanay na bairi balma (Umrao jan ada), Haataun mein kankna (Umrao jan ada), Mili gul ko khushboo (Naseeb apna apna).

The following songs depicts her unprecedented style, the hall mark of Runa:
Aap farmayain kiya khareedain gay, Takhti per takhti, Aik baat kahoon, Arousi, parousi chahay, Hawa aanchal urti hai, Chup chap rehna, Dau dil ik doojay ko, Zara thumkay pay thumka.

Listed below are a few artistic renditions by her:
Jan-e-mun itna bata (Commander), Ho janam janam tera mera (Professor), Chumpa aur chumbeli (Dil aur duniya), Aik paheli boojoh na (Anmol), Chand ki saej pay (Jhug gaya aasmaan), Hai meri ye dua (Meray hum safar), Too nay kiya shay (Tehzeeb), Dinwa, dinwa mein (Mun ki jeet), Mera baboo chail chabila (Mun ki jeet), Savan aye, savan jaye (Chahut), Meri marzi mein (Aak). In the mid sixties, "Zia Mohydin Show" happened to be a total triumph for Runa, whose ‘Shakira ki maan ye boli’ still reverberates on ones ear before it evaporates in the thin air.
Runa’s enchanting voice was immaculate for ghazal singing, which, on the one hand, promised further fame for her, and on the other, immortalized those gorgeous ghazals. A case in point is Ubaidullah Aleem’s magnificent "Aziz itna he rakho".

Two of the other noteworthy ghazals are:
Ishq say tabiyat nay, Bhari duniya ko veeraan.
Likewise, these four accomplishments are more than enough to keep her legacy alive:
Ghar kay chiragh roshan hain aaj, Naghma o sheir say hai pyar mujhe, Unki nazroan say mohabbat ka jo , Piya taras gaye.
A song of a very different nature has always fascinated people and I often wonder that if its lyrics had not found the eloquent voice of Runa, than, perhaps, their would have been nothing. Yes, I am referring to "Mein tau chali sakhio".

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