Bollywood Disco: Talk + Party

6:00–9:00 p.m.

Join us for a night of discussions and dance featuring legendary DJ Rekha’s Bollywood Disco. Classic numbers, live performances, film favorites, and disco grooves are remixed into bangers that will keep you dancing the night away. Don’t miss your “dance pe chance.” Preceding the dance party will be an illustrated conversation with filmmaker Saleem Nasir Gondal and critic and Film Comment Editor Devika Girish about the glorious genre of Hindi films (aka films from Bollywood, the movie industry in Mumbai) featuring tawaifs or courtesans. 

Please note: during the event, Mon Amour Café will be open and serving delicious flatbreads, paninis, pizzettes, beer, wine, cider, bottled cocktails, and more. 

Special guests: 

DJ Rekha (they/them), born Rekha Malhotra, is a producer, curator, educator, and founder of Bollywood Disco and Basement Bhangra, one of NYC’s longest-running club nights. Their dynamic DJ sets incorporate South Asian Diasporic dance music with ears to a global sound that builds inclusive environments of joy. Their debut album DJ Rekha presents Basement Bhangra (featuring a track with Wyclef Jean) earned critical acclaim and was nominated for best DJ album by the 2008 Plug Awards. They have been featured on Broadway, NPR, Taste the Nation, Celebrate Brooklyn, and Central Park SummerStage. 

Devika Girish is the Editor of Film Comment and a Talks Programmer for the New York Film Festival. Her writing also appears in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Criterion Collection,The Nation, Sight & Sound, The Village Voice, and other publications. She has served on the selection committees of the Berlin Critics’ Week and the Mumbai Film Festival, and on juries for CPH:DOX, the Locarno Film Festival, Visions du Reel, and SEMINCI. Devika’s work has been recognized with a National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award, a National Critics’ Institute Fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and the inaugural Patricia Zimmerman Fellowship at the Flaherty Institute, among other honors.

Saleem Nasir Gondal (he/him) is a filmmaker based in New York. His work explores themes of language and intimacy in BIPOC communities onscreen. Saleem’s work has been supported by The Black List, National Board of Review, The Gotham, Pillars Fund, MPAC Hollywood Bureau, and the Disability Belongs Entertainment Lab. Saleem’s short film Super Sonic has screened at festivals in five different countries, including the Austin Film Festival, TIDE Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival. Saleem’s short Post Term is the winner of the Focus Features/JetBlue Short Film Showcase and was screened at CAAMFest, Indian Film Festival of LA, TIDE Film Festival, and more. 

Photo credit: Shruti Thundiyil