Bollywood-themed Party!

April 7, 2009 1:12 AM

How can we make a Bollywood-themed party the best party ever?!

The student co-op I am a part of is hosting a Bollywood-themed party and we're at a loss for ideas regarding specific theme components other than inviting a Bollywood dance group and playing Bollywood songs.

Do you have any suggestions on how we can make this party shine and dazzle?

We're located in Berkeley, CA (Bay Area).

(The last time we asked for theme suggestions, we received wonderful answers. Please hivemind, come to our rescue yet again!)

Thank you in advance!

posted by mahoganyslide to human relations (14 comments total)

Get the party started
posted by watercarrier at 1:52 AM on April 7

Comb your local thrift stores for old saris to wear and decorate with. Burn incense, eat samosas.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:06 AM on April 7

Do you have screens you can project some Bollywood movies onto, to play while the party's going on, for background atmosphere? Maybe some old teev's and a few DVD players?
posted by t0astie at 3:32 AM on April 7

Seconding Bollywood movies and soundtracks. Also see if you can get some Indian snacks - food makes a big difference to how much people notice the theme. A friend of mine had a Bollywood party and her Indian co-worker gave her the name of a caterer who did authentic food for them, carefully labelled so you could learn a little bit about what you were eating.
posted by harriet vane at 4:02 AM on April 7

Hire a henna/mendhi artist.
posted by saucysault at 4:55 AM on April 7

Seconding the mendhi artist and Indian food! There are lots of yummy snack foods you can serve like samosa, pakora, or phuchka/golgappa. I'm not from your part of the world so don't know how hard it is to get hold of that kind of food but I'm sure it's possible.

Also I agree, a good idea to project or play Indian film music videos on the wall or a large screen.

Are you/your guests Hindi-speaking and familiar with Hindi songs? if so, you could have an Antakshari competition.

You could also have a male/female dance-off, so popular in Hindi movies. People are probably going to be dancing anyway though...

Can you get hold of cheap saris? You can hang them across the walls. You can also put ethnic looking pillows and things on the floor. You can also use coloured lightbulbs in your light fittings.

I hope the party goes well!
posted by Ziggy500 at 5:43 AM on April 7

You absolutely need to break into song and dance at some point. While the choreography might suffer a bit, people will definitely get into it if you just decide to have a dance number.
posted by explosion at 6:33 AM on April 7

Dudes must have moustaches.
posted by electroboy at 6:48 AM on April 7

Oh, and right now my favourite dance song is Golimar from the film Donga.
posted by saucysault at 7:37 AM on April 7

Looks like there's plenty of chaat stores (Indian snacks and sweets) in Berkeley. Go to one of those and raid it!
posted by naju at 8:27 AM on April 7

Go to an Indian Grocery store. They usually sell decorations for various holidays (but they aren't super specific or anything) -- brightly colored borders to put around doors, gold fringe, that sort of thing. And they're usually cheap. That could provide a background for your dance numbers!

They also usually sell Bollywood movies there. The movies are often bootleg copies, so they're also pretty cheap. But, even more cool, would be if you could ask them for old movie posters they might have lying around. Those would make awesome party decorations.
posted by bluefly at 9:38 AM on April 7

Seconding Ziggy500's suggestions. Decorations should be bright, colorful and flashy--the more the better.

Ah, sounds like tons of fun, good luck!
posted by blithecatpie at 10:47 AM on April 7

Set up a lassi bar?
posted by werkzeuger at 2:46 PM on April 7

Bhang always seems to liven things up, in the movies.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:43 PM on April 7