The Best South Asian Shows In Australia This June - Shreya Ghoshal, Temple Of Desire, Sydney Film festival
- Staff Writer
- 35 minutes ago
- 3 min read
June in Australia, especially on the east coast, means shorter days, heavier jackets and the quiet urge to stay indoors.
But it's also a time to catch up on shows, and this winter there's a strong South Asian events calendar spread across Sydney and Melbourne — ranging from classical dance to documentary cinema to a concert.
Whether you're after something that challenges you, something that moves you, or just a good night out with your community, the next few weeks are well stocked. Here's what's on.
Karma Dance: Temple of Desire | Sydney Opera House | 4–5 June
Temple of Desire — Karma Dance's latest — takes Bharatanatyam, one of India's oldest classical dance forms, and pushes it into territory that would make a lot of traditionalists uncomfortable. That's the point.
Twenty dancers of South Asian descent, alongside a trans actor of colour, explore pre-colonial histories, queer identity, cultural loss and post-colonial trauma - drawing on their classical training to recover a world where the divine and the sensual weren't considered opposites.
The production picked up the Director's Choice Award at Melbourne Fringe in 2024 and has since toured Melbourne and Toronto to sold-out houses before landing at what is arguably the most famous stage in the country - the Sydney Opera House.
The closing night ends with an after-party in the Opera House foyer, with DJ Goddess Naavikaran spinning Carnatic, Bollywood, pop and deconstructed club. Two nights only.
Sydney Film Festival | City cinemas, Sydney | 3–14 June
The 73rd Sydney Film Festival runs 3–14 June across central Sydney cinemas, with over 200 films in the program. A strong handful have South Asian stories at their centre.
The one closest to home is Don't Tell Mother, a debut feature from Melbourne filmmaker Anoop Lokkur. Set in 1993 Bangalore - pre-digital India, VHS tapes, cinema culture - it follows a middle-class family through small domestic joys and tensions, anchored by strong performances from a young cast.
If documentary is more your speed, two stand out. Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, directed by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, traces the author's recovery after he was stabbed 15 times at a lecture in the United States in 2022, drawing on footage filmed by his wife Rachel Eliza Griffiths.
Then there's The Cycle of Love, the story of Indian street artist PK Mahanandia, who cycled 6,000 miles from Delhi to Sweden in 1977 to reunite with the woman he loved. Priyanka Chopra Jonas came on as producer, moved by its themes of devotion and resilience.
Hanging by a Wire reconstructs the 2023 Battagram cable car crisis in northern Pakistan, where eight people, including, six schoolboys, were left stranded 900 metres off the ground as rescue teams scrambled below.
From Bangladesh, Master follows a schoolteacher whose campaign on education and women's rights ends with an unexpected mayoral win. And, then the harder question of what to do with power. It won the Big Screen Competition at Rotterdam.
Full program at sff.org.au.
Shreya Ghoshal: The Unstoppable Tour | Sydney & Melbourne | 27–28 June
Shreya Ghoshal brings The Unstoppable Tour to Sydney's TikTok Entertainment Centre on 27 June, then to Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena the following night.
For a lot of people in the South Asian diaspora, Ghoshal's voice is tied up with specific memories and specific moments.
She's been recording and touring for over two decades, and this run leans into that history without coasting on it. Updated arrangements, new staging and a contemporary direction sit alongside the catalogue hits, the aim being a concert that feels current rather than a greatest hits retrospective.
Sydney tickets via ticketek.com.au; Melbourne via margaretcourtarena.com.au.
Coming up: July and beyond
June is just the start of a busy run. Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan brings his World Tour to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 19 July - a proper Qawwali evening at one of the city's biggest indoor venues.
And Motta Maadi Music's Breathless Tour arrives at The Corner Hotel in Richmond on 2 August - a Tamil band that knows how to turn a standing crowd into something resembling a celebration back home
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