
Photo: Bollywood Hungama · CC BY 3.0 · credits
Ila Arun
Person · female · India · Jaipur · born 1954 · recording since 1960
Indian actress and singer
streamingdatabasedatabasedatabase
Listen on SpotifyYouTube Music
Also known as 일라 아룬
Timeline
1950s
1960s
· Debut release
Debut release: Chhappan Chhuri
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Biography
Biography
Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk-pop singer known for her works in Hindi cinema, and Indian pop. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood films such as Lamhe, Jodhaa Akbar, Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Begum Jaan.
Personal life
Arun was born on 15 March 1954 in a Kanyakubja Brahmin family of Jodhpur in Rajasthan. She hails from Jaipur . She is the sister of Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Pandey. Her mother was Bhagwati Pandey. She is married to Arun Bajpayi. Ila Arun is the mother of Ishitta Arun.
Playback singing
Arun has sung numerous film songs in Hindi and quite a few other Indian languages such as Tamil and Telugu. Her most famous film song to 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. The song created controversy due to the inappropriate lyrics and Arun was told by certain people not to sing the song at her public performances. 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
Vote For GhagraSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Meri Aankhon Ka Kajal2Baji Kyon Payal Meri3Ooee Ooee Amma4Resham Ka Hai Kurta5Raja Humka Bulave6Aave Hichki7Jhir Mir Jhir Mir8Vote For Ghagra". She also sang the promotional hit song Halla Bol for the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League She hails from Rajasthan and sings Rajasthani songs in her albums and movies.
Acting
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. In Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Begum Jaan, she played a governess and a brothel member, respectively. In "Raat Akeli Hai", which is a Netflix movie and released on 31 July 2020, she has played the role of mother of the Hero "Nawazuddin Siddiqui" and correctly delivered the dialogues in local dialect.
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.
As singer
"Payal Utaar Dungi"
Film: Mohabbat ki Arzoo
1994
Music Director : Laxmikant Pyarelal
As music director
1992 – Mujhse Dosti Karoge
1991 – Rukmavati Ki Haveli
1985 – Doongar Ro Bhed
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 32 | 91.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 64 | 98.9th |
| Genres | 2 | 74th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (7 release groups · 6 studio albums)
Albums · 6
1960 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 51:07
1Mera Assi Kali Ka7:012Resham Ka Roomal4:333Meri Assi Kali Ka Lehnga7:034Main Chhappan Chhuri Matwari4:485Main To Ho Gayee Apne Yaar Ki4:586Meri Jhanjhar Shor Machaye5:297Main Jhumroo5:438Jhoola Jhoolen Sakhiyan5:459Nahin Jana5:471988 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 41:22
1Patang6:062Kuchh Kah Kuchh Suna6:113Gulbadan Chhuimui5:294Roz Roz Ana5:325Main Chali Jaoongi5:016Jugnu5:257Anyway Yeh Hai Bombay7:381994 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 8 tracks · 48:13
1Nigodi Kaisi Jawani Hai6:022Bagon Ka Bhawara Mere8:223Kahan Khoya Hamara Nawal Bichiya5:424Kal Raat Kaiharwa Khoob Hua4:445Ye Bheed Bhad Ka Mela5:266Dhol Baja Hai Baisakhi Ki Raat5:217Solwa Saal5:188Hailo (Ramapeer)7:181997 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 52:05
1Allah Om Shanti6:022Chunari4:523Hawa Dheere Baho6:084Khichdi5:335Main Dilwali Hoon4:566Prem Se Bolo7:157Tum Kahan Gaye The6:398Tum Mujhko Chhoona Na5:149Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai5:262002 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 8 tracks
1Meri Aankhon Ka Kajal2Baji Kyon Payal Meri3Ooee Ooee Amma4Resham Ka Hai Kurta5Raja Humka Bulave6Aave Hichki7Jhir Mir Jhir Mir8Vote For Ghagra— · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:12:31
1Morni6:022Payal Utaar Doongi6:313Jawani Re4:434Resham Ka Roomal4:335Meri Jhanjhar Shor Machaye5:296Mera Assi Kali Ka Lehnga7:017Satoliya3:598Mela Mein le Chall Sajna5:389Nahi Jaha5:4510Main Chali Jaoongi5:0411Kuchh Kaha Kuchh Suna6:1212Gulbadan Chhumui5:3113Patang6:03
Single · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ghagra (From “Crew”)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 3:011Ghagra3:01 | Soundtrack | 12 March 2024 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Ila Arun head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 32 | 91.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 64 | 98.9th |
| Genres | 2 | 74th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit | won |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ila_Arun.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7344191f-2206-4572-b772-48499b1df46ddiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7344191f-2206-4572-b772-48499b1df46dcore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3595475genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3595475seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ila_Arunbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ila_Arun
Why this artist is in the database
- List of Indian playback singers — rank #58
Ila Arun | 1993–present | Rajasthani, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu
- List of folk musicians
Tier rule: notable long tail (listeners 0, 32 language versions)
Image: Bollywood Hungama · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q3595475 · MusicBrainz: 7344191f-2206-4572-b772-48499b1df46d
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