Laila and her lilting ditties
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It's the jive that makes Runa Laila's performance unique.
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"I've always done one-off concerts. So I'm looking forward to this festival, which I've heard is going to be different, with classical and fusion music." Runa Laila
RUNA LAILA: Voice honed by rigorous training.
Runa Laila will perform on November 25, 7.15 p.m. at Kamaraj Arangam.
Born into a middle class family in Pakistan, Runa Laila was a bright youngster brought up in the typical Bengali mould, where the arts, like other fine things of life, were nurtured with just as much enthusiasm as to keep them buzzing happily within the family circle.
A music ustad would visit the family home, to teach classical music to Runa's elder sister Dina Laila. As younger siblings are wont to do, Runa too would sit down and pick it up effortlessly. But the energetic youngster's heart was in dance, and she was enrolled in a school where she learnt Kathak, Bharatanatyam, even Kathakali!
"I think it comes out when I sing," says the lady known for her signature brand of jiving. Picked by music director Manzur Hussain to sing for his film "Jugnoo" while a child under 12, she received intensive training from him, since film singing has different requirements from other kinds of music. Daily music practice early in the morning, followed by school, followed by more practice meant that by the time she recorded the song, meant as playback for a child actor, the take was as smooth as a piece of cake. Many listeners turned up at the studio to see how the child would fare, and at the end of the recording sweets were distributed. To say the next step was stardom isn't far off the mark, since her next song, in the same film, was for the heroine.
One film led to another and Runa Laila, as history saw the creation of Bangladesh, became a star beloved of the sub-continent. The girl who had admired Noor Jehan, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh, carved out an inimitable style of her own.
Influence on her career
Besides her classical training, she recalls gratefully the influence of Manzur Hussain on her career, since, instead of pampering her as a child, he told her that while her voice was good, it had certain flaws he needed her to work on. In those days, recording a song meant meeting a crowd of people in the studio, singing along with the orchestra and, should anyone make a mistake, starting over again from the beginning.
No `punching' in of bits and pieces. No track recording in which the singer could record separately from the orchestra, in which the various instrumentalists need play at the same time. Now, says Runa, she doesn't get to meet old friends from the recording industry at award ceremonies.
Yet she feels at heart she is still part of the `old school'. Every performance still feels like the first time. She can't be blasι, because she still worries. Sometimes she frets, but that's life for someone who is resigned to being "a perfectionist".
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Presenting sponsor: Aircel
Associate sponsors: HLL Pureit, Ford and Worldspace.
Beverage partner: AVT Coffee.
Travel partner: Jet Airways.
Hospitality partner: Taj Connemara.
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`My mother Amina Laila really stood behind me. She sacrificed a lot.' -- RUNA LAILA
How was life as a child star?
Combining music and studies was tough, but it paid dividends. At times I would feel upset at not being able to play with my friends and so on. My mother Amina Laila really stood behind me. She sacrificed a lot. I didn't have the patience for riyaaz, etc., and she would explain that I would reap the benefit later. I have a younger brother and a sister. But I was never a star at home and am still not, and I like it that way.
How did you start singing playback?
We lived in Karachi at the time. My dad was in the Civil Services. I had won an inter-school competition organised by Radio Pakistan in Karachi when I was nine, and when a producer came from Lahore looking for a child who could sing for a 12-year-old boy, they were told they could ask my parents!
How easy was it to take popular music as a profession?
There are pre-conceived notions that people in these industry is `bad'. But you come to know it is work like any other. At first my parents were quite reluctant, but I had always cherished a dream of becoming a playback singer. My mum used to go with me everywhere. My dad was supportive.
Later you added your brand of visual delight to your performances...
Earlier, a male or female singer would just sit and sing. But when I started singing on TV I realised people first see you, not just hear you, so you have to put some mood in it. I had a fortnightly show called Bazme-Laila, in which I sang ghazal, pop, folk, all in Urdu. I started experimenting. For every song I had a different hairstyle, different outfit. Initially it got panned quite a bit. But then the younger set started liking it.
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For tickets
Daily tickets priced at Rs. 300, Rs. 200 and Rs. 100 and season tickets priced at Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 1,500 are available at Sri Krishna Sweets (Purasawalkam, Ashok Nagar and T. Nagar), Landmark (Nungambakkam), Odyssey (Adyar), Worldspace (Spencer Plaza), Music World (Anna Nagar and Spencer Plaza) and Fountainhead (Mylapore). Also at Pureit Safe Water Zone — New No. 1, Old No. 9, Anu Arcade, 1st Cross Street, Shastri Nagar. (Helpline - 2823 7373).
For online booking log on to www.thehindu.com/novemberfest
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What to expect
Runa Laila's silken voice is associated with a range of songs. Though she is singing at a public performance in India after quite a gap, her fans have not forgotten her. So she promises all the old favourites like "Damadam Mast Kalandar", "Ranjish Hi Sahi", "Mera Babu Chhail Chhabila" and others. Runa brings her orchestra with her from Bangladesh. The accompaniment includes two keyboards, a tabla, an electric guitar, a bass guitar and an octopad.
ANJANA RAJAN
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