New York City's South Asian Cultural Guide

Bollywood.NYC

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

Issue No. 007 · April 16, 2026

Editor's Note

Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Three nights that don't happen by accident.

Tonight, Ali Zaman Taji performs qawwali at Barzakh Café in Crown Heights. Tomorrow night, Zakir Khan sells out Radio City Music Hall in Hindi. Saturday night, Akaash Singh brings the Generational Triumph Tour to the same stage.

Three consecutive nights. Devotional music and diaspora comedy, back to back, one of them at one of the most iconic venues in the world. This is not a coincidence — it's what a community looks like when it reaches a certain size and confidence. The South Asian arts calendar in New York has been building toward weekends like this one for years. This is what it looks like when it arrives.

Get tickets for tonight if you can. Get tickets for Saturday if you haven't. And if you're going to Radio City tomorrow — you already know.

If someone came to mind while reading this, stop and forward it to them now. That's the only way this list grows into something.

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 Weekend

Tonight: Night of Qawwali with Ali Zaman Taji — Barzakh Café, 6pm. Tomorrow: Zakir Khan — Radio City Music Hall, 7:30pm. Saturday: Akaash Singh — Radio City Music Hall, 7:30pm.

The Edit — This Weekend
01
Editor's Pick Comedy

Akaash Singh — Radio City Music Hall

Saturday, April 18 · 7:30pm · Radio City Music Hall, 1260 6th Ave · From $80

Last issue covered Zakir Khan at Radio City on Friday. This issue covers Akaash Singh at Radio City on Saturday. Two South Asian comedians. Same venue. Consecutive nights. That has never happened before, and it is happening this weekend.

The diaspora doesn't need one moment anymore. It has weekends.

Akaash Singh is co-host of Flagrant, one of the most-listened-to podcasts in the country. His specials include Bring Back Apu and Gaslit. Unapologetic, high-energy, and completely unfiltered — a different register from Zakir Khan, which is exactly the point. Two nights, two voices, one venue. Generational Triumph Tour. Doors 8pm, show 7:30pm.

Get tickets — Ticketmaster

Found via Bollywood.NYC

02
Live Music

Night of Qawwali with Ali Zaman Taji — Barzakh Café

Tonight, Thursday April 16 · 6–8pm · Barzakh Café, 147 Utica Ave, Brooklyn

Qawwali is the devotional music of the Sufi tradition — call and response, building in intensity, designed to move a room from listening to feeling. Ali Zaman Taji brings it to Barzakh tonight. Two hours, Crown Heights, a room that was built for exactly this kind of evening. Tonight is the start of the weekend.

If you're reading this in the morning, there is still time to go.

Get tickets — Viewcy

Found via Bollywood.NYC

03
Comedy

Zakir Khan — Radio City Music Hall

Tomorrow, Friday April 17 · 7:30pm · Radio City Music Hall, 1260 6th Ave

We covered Zakir Khan in Issue 006. We're covering him again because the show is tomorrow and if you don't have tickets yet, this is the reminder. Hindi-language stand-up at Radio City Music Hall — the kind of show that gets talked about for years after. Doors 7pm.

Get tickets — Ticketmaster

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Coming Soon — Worth a Look
Thu, April 23 — Worth the Trip

Hasan Minhaj & Ronny Chieng — NJPAC, Newark

“Hasan Hates Ronny | Ronny Hates Hasan” — a one-night-only comedy debate format in which both comedians agree on exactly one thing: that you should be there. Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark. 20 minutes from Penn Station on NJ Transit. Hasan Minhaj is a two-time Peabody Award winner. Ronny Chieng is an Emmy winner and correspondent on The Daily Show. Together they're doing pettiness as a love language. 7pm, 1 Center St, Newark.

Get tickets — NJPAC

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Fri, April 24

Indian Classical Concert — Barzakh Café

Back at 147 Utica Ave, eight days after Thursday's qawwali. Indian classical music in the same intimate room — the kind of venue where the sound doesn't have to travel far to reach you. 6–8pm. Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Get tickets — Viewcy

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Thu, May 1

Drunk Bollywood — The Bell House

A live reading and staging of a Bollywood classic — with music, dance, and alcohol. Produced by Proma Khosla and Raashi Desai of Lion Party Films. The concept sounds like a gimmick until you're in the room. 21+. Doors 7pm, show 7:30pm. 149 7th St, Brooklyn.

Get tickets — Live Nation

Found via Bollywood.NYC

Words

“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.”

Simone Weil — philosopher, 1909–1943

Weil was French, not South Asian — but this line has been carried by diaspora writers and thinkers across generations as a precise description of the immigrant condition. A weekend of qawwali, Hindi comedy, and diaspora stand-up is, among other things, an act of rooting.

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