Runa Laila in Southbank

Runa Laila is a Bangladeshi playback singer, born in Sylhet in 1952, whose repertoire spans Bengali, Urdu and Hindi film music, ghazal and qawwali. She began recording for Pakistani cinema and became closely associated with songs including “Dama Dam Mast Qalandar,” “Mera Babu Chhail Chhabila” and “Shadher Lau.” Her 1974 visit to India included concerts in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, bringing her film songs and South Asian traditional repertoire to audiences beyond the recording studio. She later performed internationally at venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall.