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Ila Arun's returns, via mega TV show
Ila Arun's comeback vehicle is being dubbed as the biggest talent hunt since Indian Idol.
Vulgar remixes and rampant music piracy had forced her into a long hibernation but vibrant and earthy singer Ila Arun is all set to make a comeback with what is being dubbed as the next biggest talent hunt on television after 'Indian Idol'.
Long out of public view, the singer, who turned folk-pop into a craze, would now rivet audiences to the telly every week day as 'Head Mistress' of an academy that would chisel talented youngsters and choose the best duo in the talent hunt.
Asked about her return to the glitz world, Arun, however, would not concede it as a comeback. "I never went anywhere. I was right here but was doing my own thing."
"Well, it is only that no album has reached my audiences for a long time. But I am addressing that lacuna too. My next album would be out very soon with ten tracks which women are bound to love. Men too would love it since women would!" she says her throaty chuckle in place.
With the Filmfare Award for the best female singer and Indian Music Industries best diva award up her sleeve, Arun hopes to replicate her earthy magic with the album.
And with Sony's latest production Fame Gurukul, Arun is expecting to return to the hearts of her fans to become a household name again.
But what made her disappear from the scene after reaching the pinnacle of mass popularity with songs like 'Morni' (in Lamhe) and 'Choli Ke Peeche' (in Khalnayak)?
Through her days away from limelight, the singer, who has been equally acclaimed as a composer, poet, actor and dancer, took up the cause of propagating Indian culture with over 200 live shows across Europe and India with the Indian Council for Cultural Research (ICCR).
Arun had met with an accident some time back that left her nursing an arm for about six months in a hospital. "That was a rough patch. But then I thought the 'show must go on' and my live shows did not stop."
The actor, known for her flambouyant style off screen with multi-layered designer bindis and loads of costume jewellery, had her share on the silver screen as well.
"I took with great pride quality roles by big directors Kalpana Lajmi (Chingari) and Shyam Benegal (Bose, the Forgotten Hero) and was content with them. Quantity never meant too much to me," she says.
Playing the responsible mother to the hilt, Arun has diligently groomed daughter Ishita as a singer and actor giving her a break in home theatrical ventures that she has scripted during her days of measured isolation.
