The fashion and art curator behind Hungama selects an hour of Bollywood-inspired guilty pleasures.

Hungama, meaning a kind of chaos in Urdu, is the LGBTQ+ party focused on South Asian culture. Currently nomadically based in East London, the event offers a space for queer people of South Asian descent to channel their culture and sexuality simultaneously. As Pride weekends continue across the world (this weekend Bristol’s LGBTQ+ community will be out in force), we asked the party’s driving force and resident Ms Lanji to record a mix celebrating Hungama’s singular style. In their own words, “Hungama is a beautiful mash-up of so many different sounds all inter-linked with the beautiful, uplifting feeling of Bollywood and Indian Music.”

Much like at the events, the mix is made up of tunes that draw on a broader spectrum of South Asian music than just Bollywood, though the famed school of filmmaking is well-represented. Along with the microtonal melodies that so evoke South Asia, the beats contain a mashup of traditional Indian rhythmic styles as well hip-hop, RnB, bass music and more. Ms Lanji may describe the mix as one of guilty pleasures, but there’s plenty to satisfy the heads here as well.

Asked about Pride and the role it still has to play, Lanji described it as “the celebration of everything that makes us unique and different.” Adding “It definitely still has a role to play. Until people are not living in secret or being killed or injured from anti-LGBTQIA hate crimes, our work as a global family isn’t over.”

Hungama plays Lovebox, Gunnersbury Park, Friday 12 July