Lahore-based Punjabi singer Shaukat Ali passes away

Punjabi folk singer Shaukat Ali passed away on Friday after a brief illness at Lahore. He was 78.

Shaukat Ali, who was known among Punjabis on both sides of the border, had been suffering from complications that cropped up after liver transplant

Shaukat Ali was known for taking Punjabi folk song ‘Chhalla’ to new heights. It was later sung by several other Punjabi singers but it is often said that nobody could match Ali.

As per Pakistani media reports, Shaukat Ali was born into a family of artistes in Malakwal, a town in Gujrat district (now in Mandi Bahauddin district), he began singing in the 1960s, while at college.