New York City's South Asian Cultural Guide

Bollywood.NYC

We don't list everything. That's the point.

Issue No. 003 · March 19, 2026

Editor's Note

Four nights. Four rooms. The full breadth of what this city is.

Ramadan ends tonight. Eid al-Fitr begins at sundown — the shift from the sacred to the communal, the month of fasting giving way to the month of gathering. The city doesn't slow down for this. It adjusts.

This week's edit reflects that adjustment. Friday night you have a genuine choice: the Ravi Shankar Ensemble debuts its first US tour at The Town Hall — his widow and daughter presenting his legacy through the musicians he personally mentored, alongside archival visuals drawn from his life. Or, earlier the same evening, Kahat Kabir is at Drom — an intimate evening of devotional songs and poetry from the 15th century Bhakti saint who belonged to no single religion. Both are Friday. Both are worth it. One starts at 6pm, the other at 8pm — if you can stomach the transit, they work as a single evening.

Saturday, Malikah's Eid Festival takes over Steinway Street in Queens — the heart of Little Egypt — halal food, vendors, community, and a fundraiser toward the neighbourhood's first shelter for Muslim women. Sunday, Desi Comedy Fest closes its inaugural East Coast run at The Bell House with Hari Kondabolu headlining. Four events. Three nights. The full breadth of South Asian New York in one weekend.

If you go to any of these events, hit reply and tell us — your feedback directly shapes what we cover next.

— The Editors, Bollywood.NYC

This Week

Friday: a genuine choice. Ravi Shankar Ensemble at The Town Hall (8pm) or Kahat Kabir at Drom (6–8:30pm). Saturday: Malikah Eid Festival on Steinway Street, Queens, 1–6pm. Sunday: Desi Comedy Fest at The Bell House, 7:30pm. Four events, three nights.

The Edit — This Weekend
01
Editor's Pick

Ravi Shankar Ensemble

Friday, March 20 · 8pm (doors 7pm) · The Town Hall, Midtown · $45–$95

In 1971, Ravi Shankar performed at the Concert for Bangladesh — the first major benefit concert in rock history — and introduced the sitar to an audience of millions. His influence on Western music is inestimable: George Harrison, Philip Glass, Yehudi Menuhin all built work alongside him. He didn't bring Indian classical music to the West so much as build the bridge that made the crossing possible.

His widow Sukanya and daughter Anoushka have assembled six musicians he personally mentored to present his legacy on its debut US tour — not as tribute, but as continuation.

The program features his compositions performed live alongside rare archival visuals drawn directly from his personal archive. Presented by the World Music Institute as part of its 40th Anniversary Legacy Series. The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd St. Doors 7pm.

Get tickets — World Music Institute

Found via Bollywood.NYC

02
Live Music

Kahat Kabir — Rāginī Festival

Friday, March 20 · 6–8:30pm · Drom, East Village

Kabir Das was a 15th century weaver in Varanasi who wrote devotional poetry claimed equally by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs — he rejected every tradition that tried to claim him and belonged to all of them. His words are still sung. Tonight, as part of Brooklyn Raga Massive's Rāginī Festival, singer Shubha Varma brings his songs to Drom alongside Camila Celin on sarod and guitar, Roshni Samlal — the festival's curator — on tabla, and poet Ramya Ramana reading translations through the evening.

Starts at 6pm and runs until 8:30pm. If you're also going to the Ravi Shankar Ensemble at The Town Hall, this works as the first half of your Friday evening — leave Drom around 7:30 and you'll make it uptown for the 8pm show. Drom, 85 Ave A, East Village.

Get tickets on Viewcy

Found via Bollywood.NYC

03
Community

Malikah NYC Eid Festival & Market

Saturday, March 21 · 1–6pm · Steinway Street, Astoria, Queens

Eid al-Fitr — the end of Ramadan — arrives this week. Malikah, a Queens-based anti-violence organisation led by Rana Abdelhamid, transforms Steinway Street in the heart of Little Egypt into a six-hour community celebration: halal street food, modest fashion vendors, handmade goods, music. The festival is also a fundraiser toward western Queens' first shelter specifically for Muslim women.

For South Asian Muslim New Yorkers, this is the community's Eid — not a performance for outside audiences but a neighbourhood claiming its own street. Steinway Street between 25th and 28th Avenues, Astoria. Tickets on Eventbrite.

Get tickets on Eventbrite

Found via Bollywood.NYC

04
Comedy

Desi Comedy Fest NYC — Closing Night

Sunday, March 22 · 7:30pm · The Bell House, Gowanus

America's biggest South Asian comedy festival closes its inaugural East Coast run on Sunday. Headlining is Hari Kondabolu — the Brooklyn comedian whose documentary The Problem with Apu forced a national conversation about South Asian representation in American media, and who The New York Times named "one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today." The bill also includes Abhay Nadkarni (Amazon Prime special Brown Jesus), Maddy Kelly (Just For Laughs New Face, Irish-Indian), and Shafi Hussein (Bangladeshi-American, named one of New York's Funniest by the NYC Comedy Festival).

The festival is in its 11th year nationally. The East Coast edition is new — this is its closing night. The Bell House, 149 7th St, Gowanus.

Get tickets — desicomedyfest.com

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Coming Soon — Worth a Look
Thu, March 26

Bengali Baul Songbook — Rāginī Festival

The Bauls are itinerant singer-saints of Bengal who carried their philosophy entirely in song — rejecting caste, religious orthodoxy, and the idea of a fixed home. A direct spiritual lineage to Kabir Das. This Rāginī Festival evening at Barzakh Café brings that tradition to Crown Heights. 8–10pm, 147 Utica Ave, Brooklyn.

Get tickets on Viewcy

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Sat, March 28

Rāginī Festival: Rhythm & Space

The closing event of Brooklyn Raga Massive's Rāginī Festival is a deep listening experience at Reforesters Laboratory — an experimental sound clinic in Williamsburg running a 24-channel spatial audio system. The evening blends vinyl and live music in a meditative, guided format. Not a concert. A gathering. 5pm, 147 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg.

RSVP on Luma

Found via Bollywood.NYC

April 3, 6, 13, 18

Desi SNL — NYC Fringe Festival

South Asian sketch comedy reimagining the SNL format — monologues, Weekend Update, original skits rooted in diaspora life. Written and directed by Azhar Bande-Ali, who sold out four performances of the debut run in November. Back for episode two with a full ensemble cast. Part of the 2026 NYC Fringe Festival. wild project, 195 E 3rd St, East Village. $28.

Get tickets — frigid.nyc

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Tue, May 5

Anuv Jain — Dastakhat World Tour

The beloved Hindi indie-pop singer brings his Dastakhat World Tour to New York for the first time. Known for Baarishein, Jo Tum Mere Ho, and Husn — songs that tend to sell rooms quickly. The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd St, Manhattan. 7pm. Book early.

Get tickets — thetownhall.org

Found via Bollywood.NYC

ICYMI — The City Around You

Buddha and Shiva, Lotus and Dragon opened this week at Asia Society Museum — 70 masterworks from the Rockefeller Collection, spanning 2,000 years of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture, ceramics, and metalwork from across South, Southeast, and East Asia. Runs through January 3, 2027. Worth seeing; worth seeing soon, while it's still fresh. 725 Park Ave at 70th St. Also tonight: Asia Society's Leo Bar Happy Hour (6–8:30pm) combines a Holi send-off with the first evening the new exhibition is publicly open. 21+, one drink included, museum admission included. asiasociety.org.

Be Part of It

If you have something worth saying,
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Bollywood.NYC proudly supports South Asian comedians and women-run businesses. These are not afterthoughts for us — they are priorities. If you're a comic building an audience, a founder running something with purpose, or an organizer putting on something this community needs to know about, write to us at contact@bollywood.nyc. We read every one.

We're especially looking for:

  • Comedy shows and stand-up showcases
  • Women-led businesses, brands, and events
  • Cultural performances and live music
  • Restaurant openings with a story worth telling
  • Luxury jewelry, fashion, and occasion wear events
  • Expos, trade shows, and South Asian business gatherings
  • Author readings, book launches, and literary events
  • Policy discussions, civic forums, and diaspora advocacy
  • Consulate and cultural mission programming
  • Panels, professional mixers, and community gatherings
  • Luxury jewelry and clothing events
  • Restaurant openings and events
  • Anything that feels intentional, not just loud

We don't feature everything. But when we do, we mean it — and so does our audience.

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