There are 4 songs in this post.
While surfing on YouTube, I was happpily surprised to find followng songs by Runa Laila. Many of you may know that she is the world famous singer from Bangladesh. She has a huge contribution of singing Urdu songs in Pakistani movies. She has also sung Punjabi, Pashto and Bengali songs in Pakistan. Infact, she has sung in 17 different languages of the world.
In Pakistan, Runa Laila has won 2 Nigar Awards, 2 Graduate Awards, 1 Critics Award and a National Council of Music Gold Medal. Besides Pakistan she as won numerous awards in her native Bangladesh as well as in India. There is a large collection of her songs available on YouTube but I picked the 4 that I like the most. I hope you like them too.
(1 of 4)
Song Title: ranjish hi sahih, dil hi dukhanay ke liyay aa
Movie: Mohabbat, 1972
Music: Nisar Bazmi
(2 of 4)
Song Title: humeiN kho kar
Movie: Ehsaas, 1974
(3 of 4)
Song Title: kaaTay ne kaTTeN rattiyaaN, sayyaaN intzaar meiN
Movie: Umrao Jan Ada, 1974,
Music: Nisar Bazmi,
(4 of 4)
Song Title: un ki nazroN se mohabbat ka jo peghaam mila
Music: Nashaad
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MQ, thanks for reminding us of Shahnaz Begum’s songs. A CD of her ghazals, semi classical and national songs is available in Karachi now. It contains Jeevay Pakistan, Sohni Dhartee, Jeeyay to iss dhartee kay natay, Mauj barhay ya aandhee ayay diya jalayay rakhan hay. It has one semi classical number that I am in absolute love with.
Firdausi begum is featured on the famous “Best of Faiz” by EMI that has been mentioned so many times. It has a classic Firdausi begum ghazal which is
rang payrahan ka, kushkoboo zulf lehranay ka naam
mausam-e-gul hay tumaray baam par aanay ka naam
simply amazing articulation of emotions. This one is done beautifully by Firdausi begum. Sadly this is the only one i have heard by her
Dina Laila was indeed married to Makhdoom Amin Fahim and she passed away leaving behind a son
PTV has so many recordings that it can bring back like music and interviews done in the early 70’s…i guess we just have to wait for these
Runa Leila and Pakistani Connection
Between 1947 - 1971 every Bengali was Pakistani and the songs which mentioned above are sung for Pakistani films :D. These songs do brought back some memories.
MQ. ‘Sohni Dharti’ was originally sang by Shehnaz Begum who is now a national of Bangladesh.
What beautiful songs. Thanks for a great post, Owais.
Any idea who wrote these songs? So interesting that these are Pakstani film songs and even though I have not seen too many Pakistani films, I could recognize every single one of them. Speaks volumes for how good songs travel far beyond their stated audiences.
Yes, one of Runa’s sisters (possibly Dina Laila) was married to one of the Makhdoom brothers.
Another famous Benagli singer, as already mentioned by Naveed, was Firdosi Begum. Her songs sung in Bengali language were superb. I wonder if anyone could post them here.
I remember watching Shehnaz Begum (was she also a Bengali?) once on TV sing “Sohni Dharti…” Bhutto was also in the audience. It was soon after 1971. Bhutto could not resist climbing on to the stage and joining Shehnaz and clapping with the beat of the song. It was unprecedented then for any head of state or government doing such thing publicly. The whole audience including some somber looking ministers joined in. It seems now it was a different age altogether.
Could anyone imagine Zia, Isshaq or Tararr clapping and singing publicly — or even privately?
This post is an acknowledgement and tribute to Runa Laila songs. No political motives behind this post :) Enjoy the music. At no point have we claimed her music for Pakistan only.
i would leave aide mr. younis’s comments as our collective guilt over 1971 is clearly acknowledged by all..that owais did not make any claims that she was a pakistani is as appropriate as his entire post. so a very sweet blog indeed
firstly thank you Owais. i absolutely love runa laila…i just wish i was a little older when she was doing her dance numbers in the early 70s.
coming back to runa laila, the 4 songs mentioned are unique.. in addition to ranjish hee sahee another ghazal which surprisingly does not feature in her own collection but does make it to EMI’s best pakistani ghazals is “ab is qadar bhee na chahoo kay dam nikal jayay” (sorry i am forgetting the first misra is it qareeb itna he rakho kay jee behal jayay?)
and how about “champa aur chambaylee yeh kaleeyaan nayaee navaylee” and there are several other filmi numbers like “dil dharkay main tum say yeh kaisay kahoon” (and how about oyay hooyay hoy when she starts this one :)
a little known fact but something i cherish is runa laila’s sindhi kafi collection…yes, her pronunciation is so perfect that you would imagine that she is a native sindhi speaker… i also think her sister was married into the makhdoom family..the sister died when she was still quite young and i believe she left behind a son
another famous aspect of this association with the makhdoom family is that runa laila sang the kafi’s of makhdoom talib ul maula, makhdoom amin fahim’s father who was a renowned poet
in its cassette form which i have since converted onto a CD is titled “Runa sings Talib ul Maula”, her energetic voice has given an absolutely wonderful expression to this traditional form of music
runa is my all time favorite alongwith shahnaz begum…my father tells me of other bengali singers (firdousi begum etc who has sung Faiz beautifully) whose migration to bangladesh left a huge void on the music scene
thans very much for sharing with us nice flash back and yonus snap out of yourself pakistani do not hate bangladeshi,indian.srilankan etc etc pakistanis r art lover,they enjoy art regardless of nationality or language or riligion as MQ explian very well