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The South Asian House initiative is back at SXSW with the festival’s first-ever South Asian music showcase. Featured acts include Jay Dhami, Bodur, Simar, Avara, Meetu Chilana, The Tabla Queen, DJ Anupi, Bollyflow and The Diversity Band. In addition, South Asian co-founder and film producer, Jitin Hingorani (“Zende”), will highlight the Telugu-language film industry becoming a healthy disruptor in the business of global cinema along with producers and directors Deepak Reddy and Sachin Dheeraj, actor Pooja Kumar, and Enowate’s Anil Shankaramanchi, who markets Telugu films in the U.S.

Following the SXSW U.S. premiere of South Asian-themed “The Queen of My Dreams,” which bowed at Toronto 2023, South Asian House will co-host the film’s premiere party in partnership with Canada House, Agliff, Isf, and the film’s producers Baby Daal Production, Spark Features, and Shut Up & Colour. South Asian House is also hosting a mixer to...

Learning To Drive star Patricia Clarkson with Sarah Kernochan, Katha Pollitt, Isabel Coixet and Thelma Schoonmaker Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The Paris Theatre VIP première of Learning To Drive, attended by Patricia Clarkson, Ben Kingsley, Sarita Choudhury, Jake Weber (who was in Saverio Costanzo's pulsating Tribeca hit Hungry Hearts with Adam Driver), Avi Nash, director Isabel Coixet, Martin Scorsese's favorite editor, Thelma Schoonmaker (The Wolf Of Wall Street), author Katha Pollitt, screenwriter Sarah Kernochan, producers Daniel Hammond and Dana Friedman, executive producer Gabriel Hammond and costume designer Vicki Farrell, with guests including William Ivey Long, Bryan Batt, Cornelia Guest, Sydney Van Til, Harpreet Singh Toor, Lena Hall, Montego Glover, Nanette Lepore, Peter Cincotti, Lora Lee Gayer, Laura Michelle Kelly, Matthew Morrison, Renee Puente, Sakina Jaffrey, Meetu Chilana, Benjamin Rauhala, Taylor Louderman, Ellyn Marks, Magee Hickey, Kaity Tong and Tom Murro, was followed by a reception at Southgate on Central Park South.

The 11th Annual New York Indian Film Festival kicked off in spectacular fashion on Wednesday night, May 4, with the Opening Night celebration which featured the U.S. Premiere of the Delhi-set comedy "Do Dooni Chaar," Disney's first live-action Hindi film. The star-studded red carpet premiere, held at Manhattan's prestigious Paris Theater, was attended by special guests Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh Kapoor along with writer/director Habib Faisal. Also attending the premiere were Aparna Sen, Madhur Jaffrey, Aditya Bhattacharya, Ajay Naidu, Samrat Chakrabarti, Meetu Chilana, Rehana Mirza, Pulitzer Prize winner Siddhartha Mukherjee, Sarita Choudhury, Ami Sheth, Poorna Jagannathan, and many other actors and filmmakers whose films will play at Nyiff through Closing Night on Sunday, May 8.

Following the screening of "Do Dooni Chaar" was a discussion with Faisal and the Kapoors moderated by festival director Aseem Chhabra which had the audience laughing throughout. A gala benefit dinner followed at the...