Love Them Or Mute Them: 2025’s most overplayed reel songs

Move over, real life, it’s reel life that ruled our screens in 2025. Love them or hate them, ‘Instagram’ trends are impossible to escape. Whether or not a song matches your taste, the algorithm ensures it finds you. In an age where feeds are curated by algorithms, certain tracks become omnipresent, looping endlessly as we scroll.

If 2025 gave us lovelorn fans sobbing in cinema halls to the ‘Saiyaara’ title track, the year is now ending with ‘FA9LA’, an Arabic number used in ‘Dhurandhar’, with Akshaye Khanna grooving his way into every other reel. ‘Millennium Post’ lists the songs that dominated Instagram reels across the nation and ruled our feeds this year.

Sapphire

This was a collaboration nobody saw coming. When Ed Sheeran teamed up with Arijit Singh, the result was pure magic, made even more special by visuals shot across India. The moment the song dropped, Instagram embraced it wholeheartedly, turning Sapphire into an instant reel favourite. It was even played at an event where PM Narendra Modi was present. So, we can all understand the impact this song has left on 2025.

Chhi Chhi Chhi Re Nani

Composed over three decades ago, this Odia folk song reflects on how money is often valued more than humanity. Pensive and layered, it found a surprising second life on ‘Instagram’. Once the algorithm picked it up, the song witnessed a massive resurgence across reels.

Saiyaara

Unless you were completely offline, you couldn’t escape reels of people crying in theatres, some even dramatising their emotions with IV drips, all set to the ‘Saiyaara’ title track. The film marked the Bollywood debut of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. While the music felt fresh, ‘Instagram’ turned the title song into a full-blown meme fest. Was this meme culture an organic reaction or a cleverly cultivated marketing strategy?

Pardesiya

Sonu Nigam’s romantic track from Siddharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Param Sundari’ went viral the moment it was released. It quickly became an anthem for romantics, inspiring endless reels of love. Unfortunately, while the song soared online, the film failed to make an impact at the box office.

Shaky Shaky

Marathi singer Sanju Rathod, already popular for ‘Gulabi Sadi’, struck gold again in 2025 with ‘Shaky Shaky’. The upbeat number became a hit among kids and celebrities alike, flooding reels across demographics.

FA9LA

On ‘Instagram’, language is no barrier. Songs from any corner of the world can rise to viral fame. Scroll through ‘Instagram’ today and chances are you’ll come across Akshaye Khanna grooving to ‘FA9LA’, the Arabic hip-hop track featured in ‘Dhurandhar’. You may be tired of seeing it repeatedly, but the trend refuses to fade. Many can’t even sing a single line, yet the song has become a pop-culture staple, with celebrities using it for everything, from celebrations to casual posts.