New York City's South Asian Cultural Guide

Bollywood.NYC

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

Issue No. 014 · June 4, 2026

Editor's Note

Nobody saved this. They built it themselves. Then they did it again the next night.

Thursday June 25: Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa at Joe's Pub. Sri Lankan comedian. Three self-directed specials. Paradise Gothic is his new hour — immigration, late-stage capitalism, the absurd task of trying to stay human in a world running by numbers. Joe's Pub holds two hundred people. This is a special preview.

Friday June 26: When the Sun Rises opens at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. Sahasra Sambamoorthi and Ahtoy Juliana made this. Not a grant, not a residency, not a commission from an institution that decided their work was worth the room. They rented the theater. They produced it. Bharatanatyam and kathak alongside salsa. An original nine-musician score. Three performances across a weekend.

The same impulse, two nights in a row. Read the Words section before you book anything. It says what we've been trying to say about this city for fourteen issues.

Tonight, if you are reading before 7pm: Sound of Light with Radhika Vekaria — Grammy-nominated, devotional, in a private church in Upper Manhattan whose address you receive when you book. Saturday: Barman Brothers at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, tabla and srikhol, 7pm. A pairing you will not find elsewhere this month.

— The Editors, Bollywood.NYC

This Week

Tonight: Sound of Light with Radhika Vekaria, Upper Manhattan, 7:30pm. Also tonight: Voices International Festival, Jersey City, 7pm. Saturday, June 6: Barman Brothers at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 7pm. June 26–28: When the Sun Rises at Alvin Ailey. Book now — three performances, limited seats.

The Edit
01
Editor's Pick Dance

Baila Society x Navatman: When the Sun Rises

Fri Jun 26 8PM & Sat Jun 27 7:30PM & Sun Jun 28 3PM · Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W 55th St · From $38

Sahasra Sambamoorthi of Navatman and Ahtoy Juliana of Baila Society did not wait for an institution to produce this. They rented the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. They commissioned an original live score for nine musicians — Lulada Club alongside Carnatic and Hindustani players. Bharatanatyam and kathak alongside salsa. Three performances across a weekend. Independently produced.

"No one is coming to save our art forms. So we decided to create this show ourselves. We rented this theater. We produced it independently."

Friday June 26 also has ĀVARTAN's Pride GHAR/BA at the same venue — a queer Garba and house music event at 6:30pm. Both are at the Ailey Studios on the same evening. Two different expressions of South Asian dance on one night in one building. Note the conflict if you want both; When the Sun Rises starts at 8pm.

Tickets — Thundertix
02
Devotional Tonight

Sound of Light — Radhika Vekaria, Upper Manhattan

Tonight, June 4 · 7:30–9:30 PM (Doors 7 PM) · Secret church venue, Upper Manhattan — revealed on booking

Radhika Vekaria is Grammy-nominated, UK/East African–Indian, and has built a body of work — Warriors of Light — that has been presented at the GRAMMY Museum, SXSW, Harvard, and the Morehead Planetarium. Tonight she performs Sound of Light in a private church in Upper Manhattan, the venue disclosed only when you book. Immersive, devotional, cinematic. Produced by Solenya. Ages 16+. No refunds.

If you are reading this before 7pm, this is still possible. The no-refunds policy is part of the commitment the event asks for. It is worth it.

Tickets — Eventbrite
03
Classical

The Barman Brothers: An Evening with Tabla & Srikhol

Saturday, June 6 · 7–9:30 PM · Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan USA, 305 7th Ave, Midtown

Gopal and Madhusudan Barman perform tabla alongside srikhol — a clay drum from Bengal, used primarily in Vaishnavite kirtan, rarely heard outside of devotional contexts. Presented by Sneh Arts Foundation at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan USA. Saturday June 6, 7–9:30pm. The srikhol's kirtan roots give this concert a different quality than a standard percussion program. That is the reason to be there.

Tickets — Viewcy
Coming Soon — Worth a Look
Thu, Jun 25 — Special Preview

Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa: Paradise Gothic — Joe's Pub

Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan comedian, writer, and director whose three self-directed specials have built a devoted international following. Paradise Gothic is his new hour: immigration, anarchism, late-stage capitalism, and the absurd task of building a meaningful life inside a world running by numbers. June 25 at Joe's Pub is a special preview — intimate, limited seats, the night before When the Sun Rises opens at Alvin Ailey. Check vidurabr.com/live-shows for tickets.

Tickets — vidurabr.com
Fri, Jun 12

Poetry Mehfil — Inside Voice x Kavita Collective at Barzakh

A poetry mehfil at Barzakh Café, presented by Inside Voice and Kavita Collective. Friday June 12, 6–8pm, 147 Utica Ave, Brooklyn. Two hours. Language in a room that knows how to hold it.

Tickets — Viewcy
Fri, Jun 20 — Worth the Trip

Zarna Garg: Million Dollar Excuses — NJPAC, Newark

Zarna Garg at Prudential Hall, NJPAC — Saturday June 20, 7pm. North to Shore festival. Variety's "10 Comics to Watch." The most visible South Asian female comedian working right now. 2,800 seats. 30 minutes on NJ Transit. Worth the Trip.

Tickets — Ticketmaster
Fri, Jul 10 — Worth the Trip

Dr. Satinder Sartaaj: Heritage Tour — NJPAC, Newark

Dr. Satinder Sartaaj at NJPAC, Friday July 10, 8pm. PhD in Sufi singing. Poet. Punjabi artist who performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 2014 and starred in The Black Prince in 2017. Carnegie Hall's own description aligns him with Waris Shah and Bulleh Shah — translated into a contemporary global idiom. Worth the Trip.

Tickets — NJPAC

Words

"No one is coming to save our art forms. So we decided to create this show ourselves. We rented this theater. We produced it independently."

Baila Society x Navatman — from the production notes for When the Sun Rises, 2026

Sahasra Sambamoorthi has been building bharatanatyam in New York for over a decade — co-founding Navatman, training students, choreographing work that has taken on #metoo, displacement, and the idea of home. Ahtoy Juliana has been building salsa and Afro-Latin performance alongside her. Together they decided that if the work was going to happen, they would make it happen themselves. What they made is at Alvin Ailey this month. The quote is not a complaint. It is a statement of fact and a course of action in the same breath.

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

Forward this issue →

ICYMI — The City Around You

The summer builds. Nawazuddin Siddiqui performs Naqaab — a Hindi comedy-thriller — at Adams Playhouse, Hofstra University on July 19. DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra Beyond at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on July 18, free, with Jaz Dhami, Mitika Kanwar, and Babbulicious. India Day Parade on Madison Avenue August 16. Ammy Virk at Nassau Coliseum August 8 — his first-ever New York show. The Carnegie Hall inaugural Indian music festival is confirmed for May 21–23, 2027. The list is paying attention.

Be Part of It

If you have something worth saying,
we will help you say it louder.

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.