Samir Kavadi

 

Blog Post 3

For our last field trip we all got the opportunity to see For here or To Go?, an English Bollywood movie that was showing at the FunAsia theater. Despite the fact I did not get the opportunity to experience the theater in person, I still was able to watch and connect to the film at home. We are immersed in the life of Vivek Pandit, an Indian tech guy who was currently working in Silicon Valley. Vivek is offered a new job with a healthcare start-up when his prospective employers revoke their offer when they find out his work visa is about to expire. As we see as the movie progresses, the company he wants to work for has full control over the status of his work visa, and ultimately do not extend it.

Throughout the movie we learn the truth and sacrifice immigrants have to make when leaving their homes to come and achieve their dreams in the larger world. These themes are perfectly shown through Vivek’s and his close friends. As said perfectly by the movie critic Lavina Melwani, this film “takes on many of the issues that are affecting immigrants in the Age of Trump, where the horror stories include expiring visas, illegal immigration, attacks on Sikhs, deportations, and temporary workers being put on watch lists”. When watching this film, being an Indian all I could think about was my grandparents when they came oversees to America to start and achieve their dreams. My grandfather had a work visa when he came, and just to imagine him not getting it extended is dreadful. Immigrants of all backgrounds and cultures have this perpetual fear when leaving their homes as there is no certainty anymore for them and their work. As seen in the movie, Swetha’s dad was trying to start a campaign to send back Indian workers to India where their talent and hard work would actually pay off. If there is no support and empathy for immigrants, there will never be a solution for this ongoing problem.

I am not going to lie, the acting throughout the film was not the best of quality, however the point that the writer wanted to make was clearly successful. Lavina even explains that this film” will touch just about every Indian as well as any immigrant who has shut the door on their sweet life in lost hometowns to fulfill their dreams”. From this film, I have truly learned how daunting and strenuous it is for immigrants when they are trying for permanent residency. Their lives basically are determined by a couple of words on a form which will either let them fulfill their aspirations or send them back home. I am sure that everyone that is a citizen is extremely grateful that we do not have to worry about getting a job through a rigorous vetting process. Overall immigrants need to be better looked after as it will not only better the lives of millions, but it will create a more unified country to live in.

 

Melwani, Lavina. “Film Review: ‘For Here or to Go?’- The Story of Indian Lives in America.”Lassi With Lavina. N.p., 02 Apr. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.