Ashu Rai is the smoking hot DJ that rocks all the nights at the best queer party in New York: Desilicious. Her eclectic and fun mixes of modern and old Bollywood are a favorite of the EGO team, who you’ll find sipping cocktails and checking out the scene at any given Sholay event. We adore Ashu because she’s a businesswoman, a great DJ, super nice, and … did we mention

Next Magazine’s beloved celebs of New York nightlife reveal their favorite take-out joints. DJ Ashu Rai serves up a variety of spice every time she hits the turntables. She deftly mixes Bollywood Bhangra with bubblegum pop to create a tasty fusion of dance and drama. Her musical mixtos is well known among the devotees of Sholay and by New York nightlife lovers at large. But what does she mix up

The extravaganzas boast saree-draped drag queens, dazzling visuals and revelers of all ethnicities gyrating to Bollywood and bhangra beats. It’s all a spectacular nod to the queerness and culture of South Asia in New York and it’s at Sholay’s Desilicious parties that queer South Asians make the most of a long evening. Since Sholay’s Desilicious was christened in 2002, crowds have been flocking to the monthly parties. Highlights have included

Set the identity politics aside, please. For tonight, at least. Desilicious is all about the party, being yourself, and having fun, fun, fun. Desilicious is a monthly phenomenon featuring the frenetic gyrations and contortions of the dark and the beautiful. Orientation (sexual, political, vertical) be damned! In a city long past “firsts”, Desilicious is New York’s first social space for queer desis to party amongst their own. In doing so,

Tribeca nightclub serves up festive and very queer twist on Bollywood Last Friday night, two nights before Halloween, Pepper, a lounge bar and club in Tribeca, saw exaggerated emotions, extravagant costumes and dramatic dance sequence—vital ingredients to any successful Bollywood film. Bollywood, the colloquial name for the Indian musical film industry, provided inspiration to “Bombay Screams,” a Halloween party organized by Sholay, a South Asian gay and lesbian event production

Queens Museum of Art Sunday, June 13th 3pm -7pm, Flushing Meadows, Corona Park FILM / VIDEO: Works by Harune Massey, Sridhar Rangayan and Hector Canongeof Cinema Rosa. Featured videos include: Go Boys, an informed look at the industry of go-go boys and The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina), a colorful and comic look into the Indian closet that pits two Indian drag queens against a westernized gay teenager in a battle

The fabulous folks from Sholay Productions celebrate two years of Desilicious funIn the Hindi and Urdu tongues, “Sholay” connotes “flame” or “spark.” There’s certainly something ablaze within New York’s Sholay Productions, an events company behind the popular monthly gay South Asian dance party Desilicious. The extravaganzas boast Saree-draped drag queens, dazzling visuals and revelers of all ethnicities gyrating to Bollywood (India’s musical movies) and Bhangra beats. It’s all a spectacular

“Hello, my name’s Shazia Mirza — at least that’s what it says on my pilot’s license!” The young Muslim woman who says these words is dressed in a hijab and in this post 9/11 world, where every Muslim is viewed a terrorist, she manages to elicit laughter from the audience, rather than horrified stares. Shazia, you see, is a stand up comic and like a handful of South Asian comics,