Meet the New York City Couple That Took Over Fifth Avenue in Manhattan With Their Baraat

Once you decide to make your Indian wedding a “big fat” one, there is no cutting back on the spectacle and this New York City couple’s April wedding proved the exact point.

Indian-origin sweethearts Pankti Doshi and Avish Jain’s wedding festivities took the internet by a storm and for all the right reasons. Their extravagant baraat procession shut down one of New York’s busiest streets, the 5th Avenue in Manhattan and had the guests grooving to traditional songs right in the middle of the street. The videos of their wedding ceremony received a divided opinion from the netizens.

According to reports, the couple had secured rare permits to stop traffic. The bride revealed to a leading media house during an interview how they planned their Baraat (the wedding procession) that brought an entire city to a halt with some of Bollywood’s most sensational songs.

Pankti revealed that they abided by the city and the government's rules and regulations and had done everything legally. They had gone to the website, filled out an actual street parade application. She highlighted that preparing for the wedding ceremonies involved a lot of documentation. The groom added that they filled out multiple forms, had to pre-plan and know everything before they even asked for approval.

The couple shared that the preparations for the wedding celebrations had started a year ago after the two had gotten engaged in 2025. Pankti added, “We had multiple phone calls where we would constantly communicate with the NYPD (New York City Police Department), explaining, hey, this is what we're doing.”

When it came to the big day, the couple revealed, “We got up on the float, and all we see is this sea, this is like an ocean of 400 people that are our combined family and friends.” Pankti adds, “We did not expect it to be so ….. what it was when it was right in front of us. We got messages like, ‘Thank you for brightening up our work day, or Thank you for teaching us what a Baraah is, or thank you for showing us what South Asian culture is’." The couple expressed their joy over receiving an overwhelming response on their baraat.

Meet The Couple

After the first video took over the internet, the couple released a second video introducing themselves. Pankti shared that she works as a genetic counselor during the night and a creative director/event coordinator at night. According to the New York Post, she co-founded Masal Mixtape, the city’s largest South Asian music festival. 

While Avish Jain is a student at Jersey Shore University Medical Centre and is also a classically trained Bollywood singer and dancer. He is set to become a certified endocrinologist in the coming months.

The two had first met each other in November 2023, when Avish was hired by Pankti’s company to perform at an event at the Chelsea Nightclub called, 'Somewhere Nowhere NYC.'