Early life

She was born and brought up in the state capital of Jaipur. She graduated from Maharani Girls college in Jaipur, India. Ila Arun is a popular Indian actress, TV personality and a Rajasthani folk/folk-pop singer with a unique, husky voice and a penchant for folk-pop fusion. She was first seen in Lifeline (Jeevanrekha) a Hindi TV serial on life of doctors, along with Tanvi Azmi over doordarshan.

Playback Singing

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 for which they won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. She also is well known for her song, "Morni Baaga Ma Bole" accompanied with Lata, in the movie Lamhe starring Sridevi. She has also sung Tamil song Muthu Muthu Mazhai under the composition of A. R. Rahman for the soundtrack to the film Mr. Romeo. Her most recent super hit song is also for A. R. Rahman composed internationally acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire. The song she recorded is Ringa Ringa along with Alka Yagnik.

Singles/Albums

She has produced several successful singles such as "Vote for Ghagra", which sold more than 100,000 copies had some memorable numbers as Morni, Main ho gayi sawa lakh ki, Mera Assi Kali ka Ghagra, Darudi, Bichuda, Main Raatan Jagi etc.. Her fans await her comeback as she left after her album Haule Haule protesting music piracy and remixes and sexual content in songs. She sang the promotional song Halla Bol for the Rajasthan Royals team in the IPL which became an instant hit. She hails from Rajasthan and sings lots of Rajasthani songs in all her albums and movies.

Acting

She has delivered an electrifying performance in the 2008 hit Jodhaa Akbar as Maham Anga, Akbar's wet nurse, who is also like Akbar's mother. She has also acted in critically acclaimed films such as China Gate, Chingari, Well Done Abba, Welcome to Sajjanpur, West is West, and Ghatak. She has also been a part of the early Indian TV Industry, acting in the 1980s Bharat Ek Khoj.

Recently, she has performed in the role of Smt. Hansa Mehta in Samvidhaan which is a TV mini-series on the making of the Constitution of India.

Her brothers Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Pandey are ad-makers while her sister Rama Pandey is a BBC journalist and a DD newsreader and Tripti Pandey is a cultural activist, a tourism expert, deputy director, Rajasthan Tourism in Rajasthan.

Discography

Album(s)	Notes
Vote for Ghagra
Main Ho Gayi Sawa Lakh Ki
Banjaran
The Very Best of Ila	Compilation
Khichdi
Haule Haule
Mela
Ila Arun Pop Hits	Compilation
Chhappan Chhuri
Mare Hiwda Ma
Nimri Nimoli	MTV Coke Studio

Filmography

As Actress

Year	Film(s)	Role	Notes
2014	Shaadi Ke Side Effects	Aunty (Hired Governess)
2010	West Is West	Basheera Khan
2010	Well Done Abba	Salma Ali
2010	Mirch	Kesar bai
2008	Jodhaa Akbar	Maham Anga	Nominated in Screen Award for Best Villain
2008	Welcome to Sajjanpur	Ramsakhi Pannawali
2006	Chingaari	Padmavati
2005	Bose - The Forgotten Hero	Ranu
1998	China Gate	Mrs. Gopinath
1996	Ghatak	Mrs. Malti Sachdev
1994	Droh Kaal	Zeenat
1990	Police Public	Laxmi, Deaf servant
1986	Jaal	Tara
1985	Trikal	Cook
1983	Ardh Satya	Sneha Bajpai
1983	Mandi	Bordello girl

Television Appearances

Year	Show(s)	Role	Channel(s)
1980	Bharat Ek Khoj	Unknown	Doordarshan
1991	Lifeline (Jeevanrekha)	Doctor
2005	Fame Gurukul	Head Mistress	Sony TV
2014	Samvidhaan	Hansha Mehta	Rajya Sabha TV
2015	Coke Studio	Performer (Nimoli)	MTV

[ Source: Wikipedia ]