Film directors, musicians and business leaders of South Asian descent gathered in their finest Desi attire — from corset saris to velvet sherwanis — at the All That Glitters Diwali Ball on Saturday to celebrate the Hindu festival of lights.
The actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband, the singer Nick Jonas, greeted guests with hugs inside the Lotte New York Palace, a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The dancer and singer Nora Fatehi chatted with the entrepreneur Mona Patel. And Siddharth Suryanarayan, a prominent actor in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, talked to the actress Avantika Vandanapu.
“I grew up watching his movies,” Ms. Vandanapu said.
The party is hosted annually by Anjula Acharia, an entrepreneur who also manages Ms. Chopra. This year, Ms. Acharia’s goal was to celebrate South Asians’ influence on New York City culture, pointing to contributions in local politics, fashion and the Police Department. The crowd of about 220 included people from the worlds of entertainment, hospitality and city government.
“A big change is happening here,” said Vikas Khanna, the celebrity chef behind Bungalow in the East Village, who has lived in New York for 25 years. “I just feel it’s also making us express ourselves more proudly.”
The team from Bungalow prepared the dinner, and Mr. Khanna replicated the type of dishes he enjoyed on Diwali as a child in Amritsar, Punjab. The menu included chicken anarkali, biryani and halwa, a carrot-based dessert that Mr. Khanna made with his grandmother for Diwali growing up.
At the party, Mr. Khanna took selfies with Ms. Chopra, who accessorized a silver set from the designer Zuhair Murad with a flower in her hair and a bindi on her forehead.
“Mirror work is such an integral part of Indian clothing, and it has been around from Rajasthan to so many parts of the world, so I wanted to represent that,” Ms. Chopra said. “The flowers are on my Bollywood side.”
“I just followed her lead,” Mr. Jonas said.
At about 10 p.m., guests climbed up a grand staircase from the courtyard where dinner was served, and walked through a dim candlelit hallway into the after-party. The fashion designer Prabal Gurung and the artist Salman Toor danced as the Bollywood song “Tauba Tauba” played from the stereo.
The music collective Indo Warehouse provided the music, and the dance floor sparkled well into the night.
Sadiba Hasan reports on love and culture for the Styles section of The Times.
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