Bollywood, NYC

Bollywood NYC is a documentary project celebrating a diverse community that finds joy, self-expression and belonging through Bollywood dance.

The project explores the diaspora, the concept of what it means to be American in 2026, and dance as a transformative experience. Over the course of a decade, the filmmaking team has embedded themselves in classes, rehearsals, performance prep and show days, profiling multiple dancers, schools and troupes. Each chapter brings us into the dancers' lives and their work. Their dedication is astounding. On top of full lives and full-time careers, they spend hours upon hours after work and on weekends - learning, drilling and refining dances. They collaborate on building costumes, choosing the perfect nail polish color, designing programs, and every facet of production. We catch moments of the camaraderie and stress – and the last-minute feedback they give one another as they’re about to go on stage. We feel their jitters, their sweat, their pain, which all contrasts with the beauty of the final performances.

The project’s first film was an 8-min. short on the group Junoon (BETWEEN TWO WORLDS) which screened at over 30 film festivals, winning awards for both the film and the director.

The hour-long documentary SEEING SHAPES is nearly complete. It follows Payal Kadakia’s Sa Dance Company through a pivotal performance as they grow from dedicated hobbyists to professional artists.