Ila Arun on joining hands with her son-in-law: When I work in the studio, there is no son-in-law or mother-in-law business
What can be better than making music with family? Popular composer, producer and guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar - who has also made music for ad campaigns, and for movies like Dhaakad and Bombay Boys has just released a 10-track world music album called Voyage 2 that features some of India's most amazing folk artists, including his mother-in-law Ila Arun. Ila, famous for chartbusters like Morni Baaga Ma Bole, Choli Ke Peeche, and Ringa Ringa, has sung on four songs on Voyage 2 called Bego, Naacho, Jadu, and Charkha.
Talking about working with her son-in-law, she says, “When I work in the studio with Dhruv, there is no son-in-law or mother-in-law business. I work with him because he is a real genius. He is passionate about music and he appreciates my being rooted in folk music. He likes listening to my folk songs and he then does his thing to take it to the new generation. It’s a beautiful combination because the time has come when we have to shake hands with the younger generation and still keep our traditions alive.”
Ila reveals that she loves all “the four songs” that she sang. “I am getting various kind of reactions because there is a song for everyone. One song is a longing song like ‘Bego’, then ‘Charkha’ is a very, very soothing song but then there are two songs which I know all Rajasthanis are going to enjoy. First is ‘Nacho’ where everybody will dance. And another is ‘Jadoo’ which is a holy number, carnival song. So I enjoy enjoyed all the songs and I loved the way Dhruv treated the four songs differently with different collaborations, different rhythm, instruments so it is a treat to listen to all of them,” she concludes.