Family and village singing
Punjabi folk singer Arif Lohar is the son of singer Alam Lohar. Speaking to IANS in 2014, Arif recalled a childhood in Aach Gosh village in Gujrat district, Pakistani Punjab, and said he had copied his father’s singing. He described travelling to villages across Pakistan to sing after Alam died in 1979. In that interview he framed his work as continuing a folk tradition and spoke of performing in his mother tongue. He spoke of artists creating connections between people and gave an account of his father’s influence on him. These recollections are personal rather than a complete itinerary.[1]
The chimta and performance
In a 2012 Indian Express interview, Lohar described his affection for the chimta, the pair of tongs used as a percussion instrument. He remembered spending years experimenting with it and connected its sound with folk singers and mystics. The feature discussed his performance of Jugni with Meesha Shafi for Coke Studio, as well as a version associated with the film Cocktail. It also quoted Lohar reflecting on his father’s singing of Sufiana qalam. The written report identifies collaborators and repertoire; the recordings were not reviewed.[2]
Recording across a border
Lohar told the same interviewer that visa difficulties affected artists travelling between India and Pakistan. He said he recorded Jugni for Cocktail in Lahore and sent the recording online to composer Pritam, while observing that working in the same room with a music director was a different experience. In a separate 2014 interview he described artists as people who could help maintain connections across the border. Those comments are his views at the time of the interviews, not evidence that cultural exchange could resolve political disputes. Together they show practical as well as personal dimensions of his cross-border work.[2]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- Jaideep Sarin; Arif Lohar. Folk artistes are a bridge between our nations ↗Artist interview · Source date: 2014-12-28 · Locator: Village singing, father and artistic outlook. Accessed 2026-11-03.Selected written source inspected; audio and video not reviewed.Return to Family and village singing, paragraph 1 ↑
- Suanshu Khurana; Arif Lohar. The Folk Smith ↗Artist interview · Source date: 2012-09-10 · Locator: Chimta, Jugni and cross-border film recording. Accessed 2026-11-03.Selected written source inspected; audio and video not reviewed.Return to The chimta and performance, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Recording across a border, paragraph 1 ↑
Record PH-PEO-0176 · English edition · human review not performed