Pritam with Runa Laila in the item song of the movie ‘Prince’

After a long break, renowned singer and composer Runa Laila of the subcontinent made her playback in Dhallywood superstar Shakib Khan’s movie ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’.

Pritam Hasan sang with her in the item dance song. Pritam Hasan himself confirmed the song. He also arranged the music for the song.

Pritam shared the story behind this song and his experience of singing with Runa Laila on social media on Wednesday night.

Sharing a video clip from the time of recording the song with Runa Laila, Pritam wrote, About three months ago, Shakib bhai and the Prince team came up with a dance track. I made a draft of a funk+house/electro vibe and told Runa Laila mam that her voice would fit perfectly in this place. I also said that I am thinking of doing it as a duet with a senior.

Sharing their conversation, he wrote, Ma'am paused and said, "Will you sing it?" I was silent for 5 seconds, completely shocked. Then I said, "Ma'am, since you are saying, I will sing this song now, I will not give it to anyone else." We both laughed.

Pritam wrote that he had been planning to sing with Runa Laila for a few years, thinking of doing something where Runa Laila could be presented differently. So he was waiting for the right time.

Pritam Hasan said, "Whenever I have met Runa Laila Ma'am in the last few years, I have always said one thing, 'Ma'am, since you will sing, I have to do something new for you, which I have never done before; Give me some more time.’ If I look at the catalogue of Mam’s song history, Mam has always done exceptional work, so I felt like I had to do something like that.’

He wrote, ‘In our generation, she is not just an artist, she is an institution, all over South Asia. And she still does a lot of modern and different work, so she said ‘yes’ to my experiment with this song. I can’t explain how lucky I feel. To have her on my composition, to share the same microphone with her! What can I say!’

Prince is directed by Abu Hayat Mahmud. This is his first full-length film. This film, based on a story from the 1990s, also stars Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Tasnia Farin, Jyotirmayee Kundu, Intekhab Dinar, Mahmudul Islam Mithu, Sharif Siraj, Loknath Dey, Pian Sarkar, Mrityunjay Bhattacharya, and others.