(NSI News Source Info) October 20, 2008: The influence of Indian culture in mainstream New York was once largely limited to yoga classes or a chai from Starbucks - and, of course, the added chance of a killer curry in Jackson Heights.
But as the Indian economy thrives, the South Asian subcontinent is driving taste and trends halfway across the world. All things India are no longer just exotic additions to American culture - they're transforming its very fabric.
Disney's Cheetah Girls adopted an Indian look for their 'One World' film."Thirteen years ago, when I first got here, I definitely felt like I was a visitor to a place, that people were unfamiliar with my culture," explains Priyanka Mathew, director of the just-opened contemporary Indian art gallery Aicon in NoHo. "But since then, there's been a transformational change in the Indian presence here - we've moved from being foreigners into being a legitimate minority."
Indeed, 1% of the American population is now of South Asian origin. The largest cluster, around 800,000, is here in the Tri-state area.
Indian influence on culture and entertainment - music, movies, art - is evident with Channel 500, the Bollywood movies-on-demand network, to the new Cheetah Girls movie, "One World," in which the Disney group breaks into Bollywood and records a soundtrack with an Indian edge.
Professional divorcee Denise Richards returned to acting with a lead in a pan-cultural Bollywood mashup, and Steven Spielberg's financing now comes from Bollywood backers. Then there's Jay-Z, who has remixed tracks to Bhangra beats, and Snoop Dogg's "Singh Is Kinng," a collaboration with Indian artist Akshay Kumar.
Southeast Asian taste is taking over fashion, too. High-end designers like Hermes (who chose Bangalore-born model Lakshmi Menon as the brand's official face) and Armani churned out an Indian-inspired collection recently, and Gaultier has even hired an India-trained designer, Ra-mesh Nair, to be his No. 2.
Ralph Lauren and Perry Ellis both hired DJ Suhel to spin for their runway shows. When the Pussycat Dolls vamped through a performance at "Fashion Rocks" last month, they were swathed in saris by Rocky S.
It was the work of stylist Hitha Prabhakar, who's also a New York correspondent for Elle magazine's Indian edition.
Indeed, 1% of the American population is now of South Asian origin. The largest cluster, around 800,000, is here in the Tri-state area.
Indian influence on culture and entertainment - music, movies, art - is evident with Channel 500, the Bollywood movies-on-demand network, to the new Cheetah Girls movie, "One World," in which the Disney group breaks into Bollywood and records a soundtrack with an Indian edge.
Professional divorcee Denise Richards returned to acting with a lead in a pan-cultural Bollywood mashup, and Steven Spielberg's financing now comes from Bollywood backers. Then there's Jay-Z, who has remixed tracks to Bhangra beats, and Snoop Dogg's "Singh Is Kinng," a collaboration with Indian artist Akshay Kumar.
Southeast Asian taste is taking over fashion, too. High-end designers like Hermes (who chose Bangalore-born model Lakshmi Menon as the brand's official face) and Armani churned out an Indian-inspired collection recently, and Gaultier has even hired an India-trained designer, Ra-mesh Nair, to be his No. 2.
Ralph Lauren and Perry Ellis both hired DJ Suhel to spin for their runway shows. When the Pussycat Dolls vamped through a performance at "Fashion Rocks" last month, they were swathed in saris by Rocky S.
It was the work of stylist Hitha Prabhakar, who's also a New York correspondent for Elle magazine's Indian edition.
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