If your Instagram or TikTok feed has had a Saraiki folk tune stuck on repeat lately, you’re not alone. “Chalre Chalre Waal” (also spelled Chalray Chalray Wal, Chalry Chalry Waal or Jhalry Jhalry Wal) has become one of the most-used songs on reels across Pakistan and India, and the video that started it has crossed 112 million views.
Here’s the viral video, why everyone is using the song, and the best reels to watch.
The viral video: a girl, a guitar and a Saraiki classic
The version everyone is sharing is an acoustic cover by Lahore singer Shanzy Sial (@its_shanzy01), performed with Lahore-based singer Mohsin Lashari. Just a voice, a guitar and a song most young listeners had never heard before. Her full cover reel now shows more than 112 million views on Instagram.
Shanzy had already posted shorter clips of the song earlier in the year, and her “part 2” reel alone passed 17 million views. When the full cover landed on Spotify and YouTube, the reels followed.
Why “Chalre Chalre Waal” took over reels
It’s a folk song most people heard for the first time. The song is a traditional Saraiki folk piece from southern Punjab. Older listeners know it from cassettes and live mehfils; for Gen Z it sounded brand new.
It crossed the border. According to Gulf News and Scroll, the acoustic version took off on Indian social media, especially in Punjab. Indian Punjabi singer Sunanda Sharma shared her own version, and an Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector, Nishant Mishra, went viral singing it with a guitar.
It sounds familiar. Many Indian listeners say the opening notes remind them of “Na Kajre Ki Dhar” from the 1994 Bollywood film Mohra, which pulled even more people in.
It works for every kind of reel. Dance videos, slow-motion couple edits, travel clips and “slowed + reverb” versions all use it.
The reel that took it international
Lahore’s SurTaal Music Academy posted a version with the Norwegian dance duo Quick Style, and it became one of the biggest posts of the trend, with around 2 million likes.
Fan reels everywhere
Thousands of pages have reposted and remixed Shanzy’s cover. This repost alone has more than 36,000 likes:
Who sang it first?
“Chalre Chalre Waal” is much older than the trend. It’s a Saraiki folk song, also known in some versions as “Tediyan Reesan Kon Kare”, and is widely associated with folk singer Muhammad Hussain Bandialvi. The late Shafaullah Khan Rokhri recorded a popular version in 2017. We’ve put the full story, and everything about Shanzy Sial, here: Who Is Shanzy Sial? The Lahore Singer Behind the Viral “Chalre Chalre Waal”.
Have you used it in a reel yet? Either way, it’s going to be stuck in your head all week.
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