Desi on the Dancefloor: Women at the forefront of Indias underground music communities

In October 2018, filmmaker Mia ZurSzpiro travelled to India where she immersed herself in the countrys electronic music scene. ZurSzpiro had been contacted by a promoter, Aneesha Kotwani, who had seen her previous work documenting music scenes around the world and suggested she come to the country to document the scene there. The result was Desi on the Dancefloor, a documentary that tells the story of some of the key women working in Indias maledominated electronic music scene. Filmed across several months, the documentary primarily follows the story of Kotwani and British Indian DJ Anu as she comes to India on tour and visits the country for the first time, and features interviews with other women artists in the Indian scene, touching on themes of mental health, spirituality, overcoming racial and patriarchal prejudice and the impact music has had on their lives. As with all electronic music communities across the world, the Indian scene has been hit hard by the pandemic, while the country as a whole