New York City's South Asian Cultural Guide

Bollywood.NYC

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

Issue No. 012 · May 21, 2026

Editor's Note

On Thursday, a 4K restoration of Sholay opens at NYIFF. Plan your week around that.

The New York Indian Film Festival opens this Thursday, May 28, with a pre-festival gala: a 4K restoration of Sholay at full theatrical scale. Sholay was released in 1975. It ran continuously in Mumbai for five years. It is one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever made and one of the most quoted. Seeing it restored, in a cinema, in New York, in 2026 — that is a specific and unrepeatable experience. That is where we would start.

Friday, May 29 is the problem. In the best possible sense. NYIFF opening night is that evening — BAFTA-winning Manipuri film Boong. Russell Peters is at NJPAC in Newark. Bahauddin Dagar performs a full concert at The DiMenna Center. Khayal Manthan with Brooklyn Raga Massive is at Barzakh. Brown Noise Comedy is at Grove 34 in Astoria at 9:30pm. Five South Asian cultural events on one Friday. This newsletter will not tell you which one to choose. We will tell you to choose now, because at least two of these will be harder to get into by the end of this week.

Before all of that: this weekend. Saturday and Sunday, Smorgasburg Williamsburg and Prospect Park host the AAPI Festival of Tea — free, outdoor, two Brooklyn locations, vendors including Kolkata Chai Co. And Tuesday night, Quadrature plays City Winery — sitar, trumpet, drums, and bass, from Brooklyn Raga Massive sessions to Warner Music Group. These are not the same thing. They are both worth your time.

Satyajit Ray, in the Words section below. He said something about this city, this audience, and what a film festival actually means when it lands here.

— The Editors, Bollywood.NYC

This Week

This weekend: AAPI Festival of Tea — Smorgasburg Williamsburg (Sat May 23) and Prospect Park (Sun May 24). Free. Tuesday, May 26: Quadrature at City Winery, Pier 57. Thursday, May 28: NYIFF gala — Sholay 4K restoration. Friday, May 29: NYIFF, Russell Peters, Bahauddin Dagar, Khayal Manthan — all on the same night. Plan now.

The Edit
01
Editor's Pick Film Festival

New York Indian Film Festival 2026

Thursday May 28 – Sunday May 31 · Multiple venues, NYC

The 26th annual NYIFF opens Thursday with a pre-festival gala you should not miss: a 4K restoration of Sholay. Sholay ran continuously in Mumbai for five years after its 1975 release. It is one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever made, one of the most quoted, and one of the most beloved. Seeing it restored, in a cinema, in New York, is a specific and unrepeatable experience.

Opening night Friday is BAFTA-winning Manipuri film Boong. The full festival runs through Sunday — 19 narrative features, four documentaries, 27 shorts, several world premieres. This is the most South Asian cinema in one place in New York City all year.

Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council. Note: Friday May 29 is a very crowded night in this city. Plan your evening early.

Tickets — Eventbrite
02
Free This Weekend

AAPI Festival of Tea — Smorgasburg

Saturday May 23, Williamsburg · Sunday May 24, Prospect Park · 11 AM–6 PM both days · Free

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Smorgasburg hosts its second annual AAPI Festival of Tea across two consecutive days and two Brooklyn locations. Saturday at East River State Park in Williamsburg, Sunday at Prospect Park. Free admission. Tea tastings, tea-pulling demos, and vendors including Kolkata Chai Co., Kim'C Market, and more — from matcha to masala.

This is the best outdoor afternoon Brooklyn has going this weekend. Both days, both locations. No ticket required.

03
Music

Quadrature — City Winery NYC, Pier 57

Tuesday, May 27 · City Winery NYC, Pier 57

Quadrature is a quartet that grew out of Brooklyn Raga Massive sessions: Neel Murgai on sitar, Indofunk Satish on trumpet, Tripp Dudley on drums, Damon Banks on bass. Raga, rock, jazz, and psychedelia — not as genre-blending exercise but as a natural consequence of who these musicians are and what rooms they came from. Their debut album Black Hole Blues is out now on Deko Entertainment through Warner Music Group.

City Winery at Pier 57 is a proper seated music venue. Tuesday night, the night before NYIFF begins. A good way to start the week.

Tickets — City Winery
Coming Soon — Worth a Look
Fri, May 29 — Worth the Trip

Russell Peters: Relax World Tour — NJPAC, Newark

Russell Peters at Prudential Hall, NJPAC — Friday May 29, 8pm. 2,800 seats. Worth the Trip from Manhattan: 30 minutes on NJ Transit. May 29 is a crowded night, but Peters on name recognition alone fills fast. Book now.

Tickets — NJPAC
Fri, May 29

Bahauddin Dagar in Concert — The DiMenna Center

Ustad Bahauddin Dagar — 20th-generation Dagarvani Dhrupad practitioner — performs a full concert with Tejas Tope (pakhawaj) and Ted Murano (tanpura) at Cary Hall, The DiMenna Center. Friday May 29, 7:30pm. Also on May 29: NYIFF opening night, Russell Peters, Khayal Manthan at Barzakh. One evening, four choices. This one is the rarest.

Tickets — FourOneOne
Thu, May 28

Abhik Mukherjee & Ravi Venugopalan — The Green Room PLG

Abhik Mukherjee — sitar, Etawah-Imdadkhani gharana, founding member of Brooklyn Raga Massive, academic director of Chhandayan — performs two intimate sets at The Green Room in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. 408 Rogers Ave, Brooklyn. Two shows: 6:30–7:30pm (doors 6pm) and 8–9pm (doors 7:30pm). Abhik performed at the MLK Memorial inauguration alongside Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. The Green Room holds very few people. Book early.

Tickets — Viewcy
Fri, May 29 — 9:30 PM

Brown Noise Comedy — Grove 34, Astoria

Brown Noise Comedy arrives in Queens — Grove 34, 31-83 34th St, Astoria, 9:30pm. Desi, South Asian, Arab, and Persian stand-up in a room that feels like home. If you're in the borough already for May 29 or want to avoid the Manhattan and Newark crowds, this is the fifth option on the most stacked Friday of the South Asian cultural calendar this year. N/W train to Broadway, or R/M to Steinway.

Tickets — Grove 34
Sat, Jun 20 — Worth the Trip

Zarna Garg: Million Dollar Excuses — NJPAC, Newark

Zarna Garg at Prudential Hall, NJPAC — Saturday June 20, 7pm. Part of the North to Shore festival. Variety's "10 Comics to Watch." Two specials on Amazon Prime and Hulu. NYT bestselling book. 100M+ TikTok views. She is the most visible South Asian female comedian working right now and she is playing a 2,800-seat room in Newark. Worth the Trip.

Tickets — Ticketmaster

Words

"What is attempted in these films is of course a synthesis. But it can be seen by someone who has his feet in both cultures."

Satyajit Ray — filmmaker, 1921–1992, from Satyajit Ray: Interviews, 1972

He said it about his own films — about bridging Indian and Western cinematic traditions, about making something that could be understood from both sides. But read it again with NYIFF in mind: an Indian film festival screening in New York, for an audience that carries both. The Sholay 4K restoration on Thursday. Boong on Friday. Twenty-seven shorts, nineteen features, four documentaries. Someone with their feet in both cultures is exactly who this festival was built for. That is this audience.

Know someone who should be reading this? The list grows one good recommendation at a time.

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ICYMI — The City Around You

May 29 now has five South Asian cultural events on a single Friday evening: NYIFF opening night, Russell Peters at NJPAC, Bahauddin Dagar at DiMenna Center, Khayal Manthan at Barzakh, and Brown Noise Comedy at Grove 34 in Astoria. That is not a coincidence. That is what this city looks like when the community shows up. Pick one. Book it now. The summer pipeline continues: DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra Beyond at Flushing Meadows on July 18 (free). Ammy Virk at Nassau Coliseum August 8, his first-ever New York show. More as we get closer.

Be Part of It

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Bollywood.NYC proudly supports South Asian comedians and women-run businesses. These are not afterthoughts — 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
  • Panels, professional mixers, and community gatherings
  • Anything that feels intentional, not just loud

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