Saraiki Song Chalre Chalre Waal Finds Millions of Listeners in India and Revives a Debate Over Its Roots

A Lahore acoustic performance carries a regional song across the border

Around 50 million Instagram views have brought a Saraiki love song from Pakistan to a new audience in India. Chalre Chalre Waal, performed by Lahore singers Shanzy Sial and Mohsin Lashari, is spreading especially widely in Indian Punjab, where its melody has prompted fresh performances and comparisons with the 1994 Hindi film song Na Kajre Ki Dhar.

The attention reaches beyond a single recording. Indian Punjabi singer Sunanda Sharma has shared her interpretation, Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector Nishant Mishra has sung it while playing guitar, and Pakistani singer Zeeshan Khan Rokhri has performed it in tribute to his late father, Shafaullah Khan Rokhri.

Behind the current enthusiasm lies a more complicated history. Poet Muhammad Saleem Bismil identifies himself as the lyricist and dates the first release to 1998, naming Gul Tare Khelvi as its singer. Another history places the song in the 1980s and credits Rokhri with singing it first. Those competing chronologies matter because listeners are now asking both who created the Saraiki song and why its tune sounds familiar.

For Sial, 22, and Lashari, 24, the immediate surprise was the response from India. Their collaboration was one of several music projects, rather than a performance they expected to become a sensation across the border. Its success has put a regional language, a romantic lyric and several generations of performers into the same conversation.

The singers behind the latest revival

Lashari is an independent vocalist and guitarist who traces his roots to Jhang Sial in Faisalabad. Sial, a professional vocalist, comes from Mian Channu in Khanewal district. Both are based in Lahore, and their acoustic treatment pairs her singing with his guitar.

Lashari described the collaboration and its unexpected Indian audience:

Shanzy and I collaborated for some music projects and 'Chalre waal' was one of them. We had no idea that it would go viral in India too.

Sial wrote on Instagram that her work had "received immense love from across the border." The performance has circulated on Instagram, YouTube and other platforms, with listeners sharing clips and recording their own versions.

Lashari also spoke about what the response meant to him as a Pakistani musician reaching Indian listeners:

We have had enough hate, enough enmity. If our work is bridging the gap, we are fortunate.

The acoustic format gives this revival a recognisable identity, even as other versions circulate. Listeners encounter Sial's voice and Lashari's guitar first, then discover that the song belongs to a much wider Saraiki repertoire.

What the romantic lyrics mean

Chalre Chalre Waal describes a beloved man through the eyes of a woman who admires him. The title refers to his wavy or curly hair. A black shawl rests on his shoulders, and he carries a red handkerchief. The lyric also evokes fragrance and the attention he attracts wherever he goes.

The recurring line, Teriyan reesan kaun kare, translates roughly as "who could match your grace?" Some versions are known as Tediyan Reesan Kon Kare, taking their name from that refrain rather than the description of his hair.

Those concrete images help explain why the song can engage people who do not understand every word. Hair, clothing, scent and admiration give the listener a clear scene, while the repeated refrain makes the central feeling easy to follow.

The title appears in English in several spellings, including Chalray Chalray Waal and Chhalray Chhalray Waal. These variations reflect different ways of writing Saraiki sounds in the Latin alphabet. Listeners searching for the song may therefore encounter older recordings under slightly different names.

A language spoken by millions gains fresh attention

Pakistan's 2023 Census counted at least 28 million people with Saraiki as their first language. Its main areas include southern Punjab, particularly Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, with speakers also living in northern Sindh, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Balochistan.

Saraiki is written in a Perso-Arabic script commonly described as Shahmukhi. Pakistan's census records it as a separate mother tongue, while its relationship with Punjabi remains a subject of linguistic and identity debate.

Shared vocabulary can make parts of the song familiar to Punjabi listeners, although pronunciation and some words differ. The Saraiki expression chalre waal, for example, corresponds to ghungrale waal for curly hair in Punjabi.

The current response is especially strong in Indian Punjab, but Saraiki's largest speaking communities are in Pakistan. For many Indian listeners, the song is therefore an introduction to a language they may recognise in fragments without speaking it themselves. Its popularity brings the language into everyday listening through a love song rather than a formal explanation.

The poet's account puts names behind the song

Muhammad Saleem Bismil gives a specific account of the song's creation. He says Gul Tare Khelvi first sang it and that London Music Centre Mianwali released it in 1998. Bismil also says he wrote the lyrics to the tune of Na Kajre Ki Dhar.

In his chronology, Shafi Akhtar Watta Khelvi and Naseebo Lal recorded a duet released in 1999. He recalls NMC as the likely company behind that release. Abdul Sattar Zakhmi and Muhammad Hussain Bandialvi subsequently recorded the song.

Gul Tare Khelvi belongs to a musical family associated with Mianwali, where several generations have performed regional music. Bismil's account places Chalre Chalre Waal in that local recording world, with an early cassette release followed by interpretations from other singers.

The competing history places the song in the 1980s and identifies Shafaullah Khan Rokhri as its first singer. The earliest release and the composition's full chronology remain unresolved. Bismil's detailed attribution gives the lyricist and an early performer a place in a discussion otherwise dominated by the newest viral voices.

Bismil is also associated with other Saraiki songs, including Sohna Ratta Salara Yaar Da, which he says Gul Tare Khelvi released in 1995. His account describes a network of poets, singers and recording businesses through which songs reached audiences long before Instagram.

From cassettes to a family tribute

Muhammad Hussain Bandialvi and Shafaullah Khan Rokhri are both closely associated with the song's wider circulation. Their place in its performance history helps explain why many listeners recognise it as an established folk favourite rather than a recent release.

Rokhri, born in 1966 in Rokhri village in Mianwali district, became known for interpreting regional material as well as recording songs of his own. His repertoire included Sammi Meri Waar, Pardesi Dhola and Rohi.

A release listing dates his recording of Chalray Chalray Wal to March 2017. By the October 2026 revival, that recording was more than nine years old. The interval shows how an existing performance can return to public attention when another singer brings the same song to a new audience.

His son, Zeeshan Khan Rokhri, has added a version in tribute to his father. The main dated milestones illustrate the song's journey through different recording eras:

• 1994: Na Kajre Ki Dhar appears in Rajiv Rai's film Mohra, performed by Pankaj Udhas and Sadhana Sargam.
• 1998: Bismil dates the first release of his Saraiki lyrics, sung by Gul Tare Khelvi, to this year.
• 1999: Bismil dates the Shafi Akhtar Watta Khelvi and Naseebo Lal duet to this year.
• March 2017: A release listing dates Shafaullah Khan Rokhri's recording to this month.
• October 2026: The acoustic performance and fresh interpretations attract widespread attention in India and Pakistan.

Why listeners hear Na Kajre Ki Dhar

Indian listeners have connected the Saraiki performance with Na Kajre Ki Dhar, the gentle romantic number sung by Pankaj Udhas and Sadhana Sargam in Mohra. Familiar melodic phrases have encouraged people to share the two songs together, bringing the Saraiki rendition to people who first recognise the Bollywood tune.

Na Kajre Ki Dhar has its own history before the 1994 film. Kalyanji-Anandji originally composed the melody, with lyrics by Indeevar, and Mukesh recorded it in the 1970s. That early recording remained unreleased at the time.

Viju Shah later revisited the composition for Mohra. Udhas and Sargam recorded the film version, while Shah retained the core melody and arranged it with synthesisers, acoustic guitar and a stronger rhythmic accompaniment.

Bismil's statement that he wrote the Saraiki lyrics to the Hindi song's tune offers a specific account of the connection listeners now hear. The discussion therefore brings together two histories: a Hindi composition revived for a major film and Saraiki lyrics carried through several regional singers.

New performers bring the song into different communities

Sunanda Sharma's rendition has given Indian Punjabi audiences another route into the song. Pakistani listeners have also welcomed her performance, making the exchange more than the movement of one Pakistani video into Indian feeds.

Nishant Mishra's guitar performance has taken the song into a different setting again. The Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector shared a personal interpretation alongside a message about its appeal:

A reminder that music has no boundaries, no language barriers, and no borders. It connects hearts!

Pakistani poet Atif Touqeer sees the response as an expression of cultural ties carried by regional languages. He described what the performances on both sides of the border meant to him:

To me, singers on both sides of the border embracing this song show how deeply connected India and Pakistan remain. Our regional languages are among the strongest routes to our shared history. Poetry and music carry that connection into everyday life, creating space for dialogue, harmony and peace.

The present revival has several centres rather than one: Sial and Lashari's acoustic collaboration, Sharma's interpretation, Mishra's guitar video and Zeeshan Khan Rokhri's family tribute. Each leads listeners toward a song that already had a life in Saraiki music. Remembering Bismil, Gul Tare Khelvi, Bandialvi and Rokhri gives that discovery a history as well as a soundtrack.

Key Points

• Shanzy Sial and Mohsin Lashari's acoustic performance has helped Chalre Chalre Waal reach around 50 million Instagram views.
• Sunanda Sharma, police sub-inspector Nishant Mishra and Zeeshan Khan Rokhri have shared their own interpretations.
• The Saraiki lyrics describe a beloved man's curly hair, black shawl and red handkerchief.
• Poet Muhammad Saleem Bismil dates the first release to 1998 and names Gul Tare Khelvi as its singer, while another chronology places the song earlier.
• Bismil says he wrote the lyrics to the tune of Na Kajre Ki Dhar, the song revived for the 1994 film Mohra.
• Pakistan's 2023 Census counted at least 28 million people with Saraiki as their first language.