Editor's Note
Three South Asian nights in one week. July 15, 18, and 19. This is what the summer looks like.
Seventeen issues in. The city has not once run out of things worth your time.
July 15: Aziz Ansari at Flagstar at Westbury. The Hypothetical Tour. Tamil Muslim immigrant parents, South Carolina, Madison Square Garden in 2015. Book the ticket if you haven't.
July 18: DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra Beyond at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Free. Outdoor. The party that started in a basement in SoHo in 1997 comes to Queens. Bring someone who hasn't heard of her. They'll thank you.
July 19: Nawazuddin Siddiqui performs Naqaab at Adams Playhouse, Hofstra University. A Hindi comedy-thriller in which he plays three roles. National Film Award winner. International Emmy nominee. Eight films screened at Cannes. Performing on Long Island on a Sunday evening. The Words section below says why he is worth the drive.
Three nights. Three completely different South Asian expressions. This is what July looks like when you know where to look.
Our first essay, "Alone in NYC," is at bollywood.nyc/features if you missed it last week.
— The Editors, Bollywood.NYC
This Week
Wed, Jul 15: Aziz Ansari, Flagstar at Westbury, 7:30pm. Worth the Trip.
Sat, Jul 18: DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra Beyond, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, 5pm. Free.
Sun, Jul 19: Nawazuddin Siddiqui — Naqaab, Adams Playhouse, Hofstra, 6:30pm. Worth the Trip.
01
Editor's Pick
Theatre
Nawazuddin Siddiqui — Naqaab
Sunday, July 19
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6:30 PM (Doors 5:30 PM)
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Adams Playhouse, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Nawazuddin Siddiqui grew up in a village in Uttar Pradesh with two to three hours of electricity per day. He studied under a lamp. He was told he didn't look like an actor. He graduated from the National School of Drama. He became the only actor in the world with eight films screened at Cannes. He won the National Film Award. He was nominated for the International Emmy. He plays a triple role in Naqaab — a Hindi comedy-thriller — on Long Island on a Sunday evening in July.
Worth the Trip: Adams Playhouse is on the Hofstra University campus in Hempstead. Free parking. About 45 minutes from midtown by car or LIRR to Hempstead.
Tickets — Sulekha
02
Stand-Up
Aziz Ansari: Hypothetical Tour — Flagstar at Westbury
Wednesday, July 15
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7:30 PM
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Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, NY
Tamil Muslim immigrant parents. South Carolina childhood. Madison Square Garden in 2015. The Hypothetical Tour is his current material — the kind of stand-up that earns its room. Flagstar at Westbury is theater-in-the-round, 2,870 seats, no bad view. Wednesday July 15, 7:30pm. 45 minutes on the LIRR from Penn Station.
Tickets — Ticketmaster
03
Music
Free
DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra Beyond — Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Saturday, July 18
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5 PM
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Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens
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Free
DJ Rekha started Basement Bhangra in 1997 at SOB's in SoHo. She was told to keep it safe and not play too much Punjabi music. She ignored that. The party ran for 20 years. On July 18, Basement Bhangra Beyond comes to Flushing Meadows for free, with Jaz Dhami, Mitika Kanwar, and Babbulicious. Bring someone who hasn't heard of her. They'll thank you.
Details — cityparksfoundation.org
Sat, Jul 18 — Same Night
Barzakh Mehfil at the Church — Saint John's in the Village
While DJ Rekha plays Flushing Meadows, Barzakh Café presents a Sufi devotional evening at Saint John's in the Village, 218 W 11th St, West Village. Saturday July 18, 7–10pm. An intimate mehfil inside a West Village church — a completely different July 18 for a completely different mood. Presented by Barzakh Café. No refunds.
Tickets — Viewcy
Sat, Aug 1
2026 Bengali Film Festival — SVA Theatre, Manhattan
The 4th annual Bengali Film Festival, presented by Bengalis of New York, comes to SVA Theatre, 333 W 23rd St in Chelsea. Saturday August 1. Bengali cinema, filmmaker Q&As, and the Bengali Met Gala red carpet element that has become a signature of the festival. An upgrade from Village East by Angelika. Tickets via Posh.
Tickets — Posh
Sun, Aug 2 — Selling Fast
Vishal-Shekhar: Superhit Tour — Tilles Center, Greenvale, NY
Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani — composers and performers behind some of the biggest Bollywood hits of the past two decades — play Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Greenvale, Long Island. Sunday August 2, 6pm. Tickets from $49. Selling fast. Day after the Bengali Film Festival at SVA.
Tickets — Sulekha
Fri Aug 7 + Sat Aug 8
Hans Raj Hans: Live Sufi Night — HK Hall, Manhattan
Punjabi Sufi and folk artist, former Member of Parliament. Live Sufi concert followed by Bollywood afterparty. HK Hall, 605 W 48th St. August 7 and 8, 8pm–4am. 21+.
Tickets — Eventbrite
Sun, Aug 16 — Free
India Day Parade — Madison Avenue
44th Annual India Day Parade. Madison Avenue, 38th to 23rd Street. Sunday August 16, noon to 5pm. The largest Indian Independence Day celebration outside of India. Free and open to all.
Something worth adding to our radar? Write to us. We read every message.
Words
"All my friends and relatives said 'how will he become a hero' when I set out, and when I go back now, they say 'he has done it.'"
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
He grew up in a village in Uttar Pradesh with two to three hours of electricity per day. He studied under a lamp. He was told he didn't look like an actor. He went to Delhi, graduated from the National School of Drama, and spent years doing theatre for no money, sleeping at friends' houses when he had none. He became the only actor in the world with eight films screened at Cannes. On Sunday July 19, he performs Naqaab at Adams Playhouse, Hofstra University. Free parking. Tickets from $49. The drive is worth it.
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Stories & Features
We want stories — South Asian New Yorkers who built a life here without a map, alone or together with someone and came out the other side with something to say about it. It isn't about celebrating the big successes in life, but about knowing you've made a life here. We'd put it in "Being Okay In NYC," a new recurring column we're launching. If you have an idea for this, the love/hate/love relationship with your immigrant parents, or other parts of your life as a South Asian, write to us at contact@bollywood.nyc or send a message on Instagram at @212.Bollywood.NYC. It goes into a living archive you and your kids can look back on, a tribute to the city you've created. We welcome stories you write or can do them interview-style.
ICYMI — The City Around You
L Shankar at Adler Hall, September 18 (WMI Masters Series, $45/$55). Charli XCX — half Gujarati, half Sri Lankan — plays Barclays Center September 14 and 15. Gaurav Kapoor at Town Hall September 13. Kanan Gill at Town Hall October 3. NYC South Asian Comedy Festival by Laughing Lassi, October 16–18. Carnegie Hall inaugural Indian music festival: May 21–23, 2027.