Sarina Jain didn’t quit her day job when she started launched Masala Bhangra. She gave herself one year. If the Punjabi dance-cardio program failed, she would go back to California and “market the crap out of another product,” she said. Jain, after all, was a publicist by profession.
That skill has served her well in promoting the workout she built from VHS tapes and dance traditions. Decades later, Jain and Masala Bhangra “ambassadors” are still filling classes in New York.
Bhangra was central to Jain’s upbringing, and her father’s death at age 47 was the spark that led to her turning to the high-energy Punjabi folk dance as a tribute to his and her mother’s commitment to keeping their daughters connected to their heritage even while growing up in California.
“He’s the reason why I created Masala Bhangra,” Jain said, “to honor him and everything he told me to be proud of.”
A recent exhibit in Queens, where Jain lives, commemorated the 25th anniversary of Masala Bhangra and highlighted the impact of the program she built from scratch. Her memoir, “All You Need is Balle Balle,” which she first announced at the exhibit, is set for publication in October 2026.
More exercise and self-care in her community
One goal for Jain, who’s often called the Indian Jane Fonda, has been to encourage more middle-aged and older people — particularly South Asians — to prioritize exercise and self-care. “Taking half an hour to go work out, that’s not important,” Jain said. “They need to get the job done. They need to make money. They need to make sure their family is fed.”
As Epicenter has reported, South Asians face a higher cardiovascular risk than other groups even when reporting healthier habits.
Jain was working in public relations in Beverly Hills in the late 90s while teaching fitness classes on the side when she began to wonder why among all the fitness programs she saw, none drew on Indian dance. She had grown up immersed in Bollywood and bhangra music in California’s Desi, or South Asian diaspora, community. During family parties, she noticed older relatives who never exercised nonetheless dancing bhangra for hours.
“I kept those aunties and uncles in mind,” Jain said. “I thought, they can dance for hours at a party — I’ve got to create the Indian dance workout for them to do when they’re not at a party.”
That idea became the cardio dance program Jain officially launched in 2000.
Turning dance into a business
The business drew on both fields in which she was working, as an exercise instructor and in PR. She spent months planning her first VHS workout tape and, with her mother’s help, trademarking the name.
A big break came in 2000, when media coverage in Los Angeles led Crunch Fitness and New York Sports Club to invite Jain to teach a week of master classes in the city.
Every class filled up. Within months, Jain was teaching packed classes across New York and the tri-state area while filming workout videos and appearing on television. Jain estimates that about 90% of her students are non-Indian, reflecting the crossover appeal that became key to Masala Bhangra’s identity.
“People craved culture,” she said. “It’s not just dance itself but being this cultural ambassador and teaching about what balle balle means,” an expression of joy.
Pushing through backlash
The rooms weren’t always packed. Jain’s second workout video came out just after the Sept. 11 attacks. Islamophobia and discrimination against South Asians soon followed.
“That was a real killer, ‘cause I’m like, ‘What do I do?’ Nobody wants to come to a cultural dance workout right now. Nobody is even talking about this,’” Jain said. “A lot of hate came my way at that time.”
As Masala Bhangra grew, Jain also faced criticism from some within the South Asian community, who questioned whether her blending bhangra with mainstream American fitness culture was “real” bhangra.
“What’s been the most challenging is to constantly be my own cheerleader,” Jain said. “There are moments where I’m like, ‘Screw this, forget it.’ But I get out of that mindset quickly because I do care.”
Over time, many of the same aunties who doubted her came around, Jain said.
Building a fitness legacy
Masala Bhangra has evolved along with the fitness industry: from VHS tapes to streaming workouts and on-demand platforms. Jain now offers a digital library of recorded classes and recently joined Apple Fitness+. She was also referenced in Apple TV+’s “Dear…” series, where Jane Fonda read a letter Jain had written about being inspired by her. Jain describes it as “full circle.”
Now a mother of two daughters, one of whom takes her classes, Jain said she still approaches Masala Bhangra with the same intensity as when she first arrived in New York.
“I love it with all my heart,” she said. “I’m not quitting anytime soon.”
Masala Bhangra classes in NYC
MANHATTAN
Manny Cantor Center
197 E. Broadway on the Lower East Side
Saturdays, 10:15-11 a.m.
Contact Cloe Andrade at (646) 395-4280.
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street on the Upper West Side
Wednesdays, 6:35-7:35 a.m.
Contact Deborah Kolb at deborahdancefitness@yahoo.com.
THE BRONX
Riverdale Y
5625 Arlington Avenue in Riverdale
Tuesdays, 9-10 a.m.
Thursdays, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Contact Deborah Kolb at deborahdancefitness@yahoo.com.
Jain’s advice for other entrepreneurs
- Give it your all: “If it’s something that doesn’t work, okay, then move on. Find something else. But the minute you say, ‘I can’t, it’s going to limit your thinking.”
- But first, strategize: “I’m not saying for you to just drop everything. Have a plan and have a backup plan in case this doesn’t work out. I remember telling my mom, ‘let me do one year in New York, and if it doesn’t go well, then I’ll come back.’ But it did well. So I said, ‘Okay, give me one more year.’”
- During challenging times, lean on trusted people: “I’ve questioned, ‘what am I doing wrong? Or what am I doing right?’ And when all of that happened, I remember calling up […] a dear friend of mine. He’s like a brother to me. He is so proud of what I do. He tells everybody that this girl, who was not even Punjabi, had the guts to put herself out there and share with people what bhangra is.”
