Boston Bhangra Founder Rohit Bhambi Talks About America’s Largest Bhangra Competition in Boston

Welcome to India New England News. Our guest today is Rohit Bambi. He is a founder of Boston Bhangra, which produces the largest Bhangra competition in North America. Their next event is happening this coming Saturday, November 14th at the Strand Theater in Boston. Boston Bhangra has 10 teams this year. And what is different this year is four of those teams will dance. on live music. So, Rohit, welcome to our show and thank you very much for your time. Mishra-ji, listen, I really appreciate all the support you guys always give us, so thank you. So, let us start today with the live music aspect, which I really like. Tell us how many teams will be playing on the live music and what brings the live music this year? So I've been working on this for two years. Last year, it didn't work out. This year, we got it to work. We have four great teams coming from Vancouver and also coming from California and Michigan. Basically, what live teams is, is that they bring their own bands with them and the teams perform to that band. So this is a first in the US in over 10 years. There used to be competition that used to do this. No one else is doing it. Whoever else has tried has really failed. But we're the first ones now to bring this back to the U.S. Canada is very popular, but in the U.S., nobody else is doing it. So we're very happy to be bringing this this year. And I noticed that you have several teams from Canada this year. Yep. So we have several coming from Vancouver. You know, so like I said, this is a global competition. One of our judges is from the U.K. So again, like I said, this is getting bigger and bigger. We have PTC Punjabi also airing the show live internationally across the world. So again, when you say this is the biggest Bhangra competition, PTC Punjabi would not be with us if we were just some small little player. And how many teams do you have from Boston? We have two. We have two teams. The funny thing about this year is that we have no college teams. Every one of these teams are professional teams. They're all academies, whether they're from Canada or whether they're from the US. So again, like I said, this is the first year this has ever happened as well, where every team is considered a professional team versus a collegiate team. So the level of competition is going to be very, very high. And this is the 23rd year, right? 23rd year. It feels like we just started yesterday. Yeah you know we've been having these conversations for 23 years right? So yes yeah every year we talk on a video or before we used to do the articles about competition so that's a that's a really great and it's a great great landmark and what a wonderful job you guys have done. So now tell us about the upcoming event. Where it is happening and times and all the details and logistics. Sure. So it's going to be at the Strand Theater this Saturday. So November 14th, 6 p.m. show starts, 5 p.m. doors open. We have our great Mirchi Nation sponsors. They'll be there for selling the food. So get there early. And the show starts at 6 o'clock. And we'll have great teams going all night for you guys. So you guys get to see the best in Bhangra. Anyone who likes dance, anyone who likes music. This is a must-see. Now, in the past you have done some post-event shows which have been more popular also, so are you going to do that this year too or no? Yes, so again for basically all the students out there or the young professionals, we do have an after-party at the Middle East as well, so immediately following the competition, we will be having an after-party where people can dance the night away to Bhangra Tracks all night right in Cambridge at the Middle East at Sonia's. Now, if you can also talk about the ticketing, what is the price and what tiers of ticketing you have and where? People can buy those tickets. So tickets range from $20 to $50, depending on the type of seats you want. They are becoming more and more limited. So we're encouraging people, please buy. Don't wait till the last minute. We get almost 20 to 30% non-Indians attending this event. We're very big on promoting this to everybody, not just South Asians. So those guys always buy early, right? So again, you want to get good seats. Please buy early. There's only a couple of days left. Just buy as soon as you can. You can go to bostonbhangra.com backslash BBC. Again, bostonbhangra.com backslash BBC. Now, I'm glad you mentioned that about 20, 30 percent, those who are buying, attending, they are non-Indians. And I remember many years ago, we had talked, we had discussed on the show and even mentioned that there's a lot of interest in Bhangra from non-Indians. So how is that going on? And if you can talk about that trend. Sure. Again, diversity is a very big part of what we do here at Mishraji, right? So, again, our teams, again, even our teams, a lot of them have mixed people on the teams. And the people that we promote to, we promote to anyone who likes dance or music, you know? So, to us, Bhangra is much bigger than just the Punjabi community or even the Indian community. Like, again, just like Diljit has blown Bhangra up across the world, you know, we've been trying to do this for 23 years just like this, too. We wanted to get more and more out there because we really feel like Bhangra... is such a special dance. And anyone who comes to watch it or gets involved in it doesn't want to get away from it. So do you have your favorite teams this year or you are remaining neutral? So I have my favorites. However, I can't say that as the organizer. Once I do that, I get myself into trouble. But all I got to say is there are a lot of very good and very competitive teams coming. And I think whoever comes to the show is going to be lucky to see it. And what types of teams you have and what type of dances you are focusing this year? And also, I want to know, are there female teams or male teams, if you can just talk about that, too? Sure. So everything is Bhangra. So again, that's what I'm going to keep in mind. This is not a Bollywood show. We do that one in February, right? But this is straight folk Bhangra. So all these teams are going to be bringing that element. So we have guys teams, we have co-ed teams, we have girls teams. We'll have guys and girls teams on the live side so you'll get to see a little bit of a contrast in terms of how they dance. On the music side you will see both guys, co-ed and girls as well. So it's going to be a great blend of all these different types of dance styles and how they kind of bring that together. And like the great thing is we have teams from Michigan, Boston, California, Vancouver, Texas. So all these different teams are going to bring their own flavor to stage. And like I said, Boston, you know, we are building more and more of a Punjabi community, but these are the best of the best in North America. Now, talking about the Bhangra and you promoting Bhangra dance, you also, you guys teach Bhangra dance as well. So if you can just talk a little bit about that as well, if anybody is interested in learning. Sure. So again, as far as our community goes, right, we have a couple of different things we do with Bhangra. We have weekly Bhangra classes we teach in Newton. We teach in Cambridge and we also teach in Bedford. So those are the classes we teach weekly. We also have our Bhangra teams, right? So if you want to join our Bhangra team, and we encourage anyone who's, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, advanced, doesn't matter, right? Try to join our teams. You know, you can have a great time. You'll meet new people. And of course, you get to do Bhangra, right? So again, you know, those tryouts happen every June, you know, May, June for our year. So basically there's a yearly cycle that we do. So you can join our teams. You can come to our classes and then obviously come to our events. Now, I'm curious to know about non-Indian or non-South Asians. Do you have any one of those students learning Bhangra with you or they just come to watch? Oh, no. In fact, half of my senior Bhangra team is not Indian. Half. So, you know, we do performances all over the place and I have more non-Indians doing those performances with me than Indians. So again, you know, it's very encouraging to see Bhangra is getting more and more out there in the general community. And same thing with my classes. About half my classes are non-Indians as well. So again, we're trying to get more and more out there in the general community because like I said, Bhangra to me is not just an Indian thing. It's a much bigger thing, just like Latin dance or any hip hop. All of these things originated in a specific area but then it blew up and that's what we're trying to do with Bhangra. What is the reason for that? Why Bhangra is becoming so popular? It's the dhol. The dhol makes you move. Again, anyone who hears dhol, whether it's at a baraat, whether it's at a party, it makes you want to move. And that's the premise of Bhangra. Like that's where it all starts with the dhol. And then you got the singers, you got the tumbi players, all these things together are kind of what show you what Bhangra is. And that's what I'm so excited about at this year's competition because You'll actually get to see all those unique instruments in play with the singer. So you'll have a singer, you'll have a dhol player, you'll have a tumbi player, a goje player, all these different sounds you hear in Bhangra songs. All of them will be on stage and the teams will be dancing to them on stage. Which, again, I can't tell you how excited I am about this because as a Bhangra fanatic that I am, there's nothing like seeing the origins of Bhangra and that's what this is. You know, now... See, somebody comes to you and says, look, you know, I have to go to an Indian wedding. And I hear that there is going to be dance, you know, Bhangra dance in Bharat. And I have no idea, I have no idea about any movement. So is there any way you can, like, just one easiest movement you can just show? Sure. So the premise of Bhangra is all about movement, right? So very heavy in the shoulders, right? So if you're here like this, you'll make sure your hands are up. All in the shoulders, up and down like this. If you can do this, that's a big part of Bhangra right there. All in the shoulders. Now, again, I always tell people, don't start doing all this. That's Bollywood. We're not doing Bollywood here, right? It's all in the shoulders, up and down. Keep your arms about 45 degrees away from your body, up and down. So that's a good to know. Any other quick tip you can give? The biggest thing with Bhangra is, it's also about your expression, right? It's about having fun. Right, the premise of Bhangra is celebration, you know, the premise of Bhangra was the farmers having a successful harvest, that's the baseline of where Bhangra came from, right, so that's where it started. So again, it's about celebration, it's about having fun, you know, so showing that on your face, doing the moves, that goes a long way in doing Bhangra. So now I also, if you can give us a maybe... Two-minute history of Bhangra, that where it grew, how, and globally where Bhangra stands today. Sure. So again, Bhangra really started, depending on who you talk to, 1930s, 1940s, somewhere in that ballpark, you know, where again, like I said, different parts of Punjab have their own different elements of Bhangra. And Bhangra, when you say Bhangra now, it's really a conglomeration of all those different dance styles from all different areas in Punjab. So those combined together is what showcases what you see now these teams performing on stage. So obviously the evolution from where we were then to where we are now is that, you know, now you see Bhangra played at any baraat, you're going to have a dhol player. So that's the premise of Bhangra right there, right? So any baraat will have that for Indian events, but then also Indian parties, you'll see dhol players. Jay-Z, obviously one of the most popular hip-hop artists, he created a song based off of Bhangra, right? So, and again, now you've got Diljit, who's doing all these different pop songs with all these famous people across the world that have no, you know, association with South Asian culture at all. So, again, Bhangra is getting more and more out there, and again, even these movies that are coming out, you always see elements of Bhangra in a lot of them as well, because it's just that dancey element that people like about Bhangra. Now, last question that I have for you is, so like you are basically leading this Bhangra movement in North America, especially in the United States. Is there any, you have any idea about what is happening with the Bhangra in, say, for example, in Europe? Sure. So Canada, I know pretty well because I know a lot of the different organizers. I know a lot of the different teams. In England, for example, again, I have one of my judges coming from the UK. So again, I'm trying to kind of branch out more into that world to kind of understand more of what they're doing as well. And one of the associations I also have, one of my partners is PTC Punjabi. They're looking to do their own Bhangra competition too, where I might get involved with them as well to kind of see how we can make Bhangra even more global. So, again, there's lots of fun things on the horizon. Where things go, who knows? But the one thing I can say is, this Saturday, November 14th, you don't want to miss the Boston Bhangra competition. Good. Thank you so much. And we will stay in touch for next year. Sounds good. Thank you, Mr. Oji. Thank you.