The 72nd birthday of Independence Award-winning internationally acclaimed singer and composer Runa Laila was celebrated in Dhaka on Sunday.
To mark the day, private TV channel Channel-i held a programme, attended, among others, by singers Rafiqul Islam, Abida Sultana, Rabi Chowdhury, music director Manam Ahmed and Foad Nasser Babu, at its office in Tejgaon.
The legendary singer also reminisced about various aspects of life at a Channel-i programme titled Tarka Kathan.
Regarding the singers of this generation, Runa Laila said, 鈥業 think all the artistes of this generation are very talented, but they need opportunities.
鈥業f they are given a little chance, they can do a lot,鈥� believes Runa Laila, mentioning that she tries to advance them as much as she can.
After her professional music career spanning over 60 years since the recording of a playback for the film 鈥楯ugnu鈥� in 1964, Runa Laila, who has vast experiences of performing in different languages across the globe, said, 鈥業f someone comes to me for advice, I give them time, give them guidance.鈥�
Born on November 17, 1952 to parents Emdad Ali and Amina Laila in Sylhet, Runa Laila started learning music at the age of six in Karachi in the then West Pakistan.聽聽聽聽
She received rigorous training from Ustad Habibuddin Khan and Abdul Quader Piarang. She was also trained in ghazal under Ustad Ghulam Qadir, the elder brother of legendary singer Mehdi Hassan.
At the age of nine, she won the interschool music competition. At 19, Runa hosted her own television series fortnightly in Pakistan called Bazme-Laila, which was widely acclaimed by critics and audience.
This was the moment where the concept of performing alongside singing was introduced, and Runa made it her unique style. She could do it as she had a brief training in dance at a tender age.
She performed in major venues across the globe and got around 300 awards in different countries, including Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.