Ila Arun

Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk / folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as Lamhe, Jodhaa Akbar, Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Begum Jaan.

Arun hails from Jaipur in Rajasthan. She is the mother of actress Ishita Arun.

Arun has sung numerous film songs in Hindi and quite a few in South Indian languages like Tamil and Telugu. Her most famous film song till date has been "Choli Ke Peeche" sung along with Alka Yagnik for the film Khalnayak starring Madhuri Dixit, for which they won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. Another song which she is famous for is "Ghup Chup" from the film Karan Arjun. She also is well known for her song "Morni Baaga Ma Bole" accompanied with Lata Mangeshkar, in the movie Lamhe, starring Sridevi. She has lent her voice to the Tamil song "Muthu Muthu Mazhai", for the film Mr. Romeo, composed by A. R. Rahman. Her last noteworthy song was also with Rahman composed for the internationally acclaimed film Slumdog Millionaire, called "Ringa Ringa".

Singles/Albums

She has produced several successful singles such as "Vote for Ghagra". She also sang the promotional song Halla Bol for the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League which became an instant hit. She hails from Rajasthan and sings lots of Rajasthani songs in all her albums and movies.

Arun was first seen acting in Lifeline (Jeevanrekha) a Hindi TV serial on life of doctors, along with Tanvi Azmi on Doordarshan. She delivered an electrifying performance in the 2008 hit Jodhaa Akbar as Maham Anga, Akbar's shrewd wet nurse and political advisor. She has also acted in supporting roles in films such as China Gate, Chingari, Well Done Abba, Welcome to Sajjanpur, West is West and Ghatak. Her most recent ventures were with actors Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar in the films Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Begum Jaan, where she played a governess and a brothel member respectively.

Arun has been a part of the early years of Indian television Industry, acting in the 1980s Bharat Ek Khoj and Yatra. She also took on the role of Hansa Mehta, an independence activist who was part of the advisory committee of the constituent assembly, in Samvidhaan which is a TV mini-series based on the making of the Constitution of India.