How Bollywood Went Underground
The Indian government conferred industry status on its film industry only in 2001. For years, the best way to fund movies was through the world of crime.
Michaela Stone Cross
Where Immigrants Die
As members of an aging diaspora die in the U.S., they’re forced to reconcile their after-death traditions with the reality of available services.
Meghna Rao
Tinku’s Protest Through Love
A Bengali newspaper outed him and his gay marriage to his community back home in 1992. Unfazed, he used it as a teaching moment for others.
Samira Sadeque
Why It’s Hard to Open Indian Restaurants in America
Diners in the ’50s fell for butter chicken and naan. But for the Indian chefs seeking to do something different, it’s been an uphill battle.
Priya Krishna
Rianjali, A.R. Rahman Protege, is a Musical Swiss Army Knife
Ria Bhowmick, a singer trained in Hindustani classical and Bengali songs, can do it all when it comes to producing music.
Snigdha Sur
A Bangladeshi Rickshaw in the Midst of Brooklyn
The story of how a rickshaw named "Rick" ended up in the city that never sleeps and got itself an even unlikelier owner.
Sarah Khan
Artist Manuja Waldia Builds a Practical Utopia
Manuja Waldia talks about money and the power of distractions.
Mumbai’s Disappearing Underworld
Bollywood has always drawn inspiration from its home city’s underworld. But where did all the gangsters go?
India’s Ranbaxy Was Theranos Before Theranos
Indian jugaad and pharmaceutical drugs just don’t mix.
Abheek Bhattacharya
Sarathy Korwar, Genius Waiting to Be Discovered
The London-based Indo-jazz musician has an entirely new sound.
Amar Diwakar
The Violence of Bangladeshi Student Activism
A recent killing has highlighted how Bangladesh's campuses, once a site for revolution and independence, have taken a turn toward the sinister.
Jennifer Chowdhury
Faiz Shakir Moves the Conversation Left
How the Pakistani American, now Bernie Sanders’s campaign manager, has dedicated his life to building a progressive agenda.
The Dream of Flying
In rural Pakistan, one man’s flight of fancy is up against an impossible reality.
Mehreen Zahra-Malik
Kunal Kamra, India’s Dissenter-in-Chief
How one comedian uses standup for homegrown resistance: “man, India is just full of content.”
How a Radio Nation is Developing a Taste for Podcasts
Even before the numbers make sense, India is investing in podcasts and hoping that audio will go the way of video.
Varsha Bansal
Jab SRK Met Letterman
David Letterman, in conversation with Shah Rukh Khan, failed to capture the mega-star’s patent charisma.
Bollywood Warped the Brown Girl
Almost all Bollywood hits (and flops) from our collective millennial childhood have propagated anti-woman messages.
Imaan Sheikh
How Rap Came to Bollywood
Pitbull, Snoop Dogg, Akon — the delightful, strange trend of American rappers in Hindi cinema.
Running the World’s Largest Marathon
Ahead of this Sunday’s New York Marathon, reflections on training for a marathon as a chef and a vegan.
Palak Patel
What It Takes to Be Madame Gandhi
In today’s hectic, social media-driven world, the percussionist asks us to look inward in her latest album Visions — and succeeds.