Andy Piacquadio
Blog Post #2
When I first arrived at the FunAsia theatre, the outside of the building was exactly what I expected. A relatively small theatre in the middle of a ginormous parking lot. However, when I finally got inside, I was a little bit surprised about the layout of the theatre. Instead of having numbers to identify the theatres, the FunAsia theatre had different names like Akbar and Ahmed to identify which theatre was which. After looking at all the different ads for the movies that were playing at the theatre, I knew I was going to be in for quite a different movie than I had ever watched before. I had seen bits and piece of Bollywood cinematography because of my sister’s boyfriend, but I had never watched an entire movie all the way through before my trip to FunAsia.
When I sat down in the theatre, I was trying to think of what the movie “For Here or To Go” could possibly be about. After thinking about it through most of the commercials, I still could not come up with a single idea about what the movie could be about. However, after watching just a little bit of the movie, I could tell that it would be about the struggle of immigrant Indians in the United States, and whether the United States is still the best place for Indians. Although, I knew what the movie would be about I had no idea about how much I would learn about the struggles of immigrant Indians. I obviously knew that there would be struggles with long distance relationships with lovers and family, and all the other common things that come with being an immigrant in any country. However, I had no clue about the bureaucracy of the work visa process for immigrants like the protagonist, Vivek, in “For Here or To Go.” I did not know that if the company, the immigrant works for, goes bankrupt or is terminated then the employees are forced to go back to India. Also, the fact that previously approved immigrants, who are reapplying for a visa, have such lengthy holding periods is absurd. The protagonist in the movie, Vivek, is an exemplary person who has never gotten into any trouble but still he is put through extensive holding periods, just because he had a random guy stay at his house for a couple of days. I also could not believe that they would not allow him to stay in the United States for the duration of the holding period, so that he would not have to fly straight back from India. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Although I learned about immigrant Indians in the United States, I also learned a little bit about the tension between Indians themselves. One of the main points in the movie is the relationship between Southern and Northern Indians. In the movie, it makes it very clear that the two cultures despise each other. I had no idea about the conflict between the two demographics of India. I knew that there was definitely conflict between the nation states that were formed out of India, but did not know about any turmoil within India relating to ethnic groups. However, the movie tried to ease the tensions by making one of the roommates in the movie a Southern Indian. At first, he keeps the secret to himself, but later on he tells his Northern Indian friends that he is a Southerner. His friends take him in with open arms, and he even gets everyone else to start pouring out their hearts. This was obviously put in the film to show Indians that they can put aside their differences and come together as a country.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching “For Here or To Go.” I think it was a good first Bollywood movie, and I was able to learn a lot about Indian culture and the struggles Indian immigrants have in the United States. I won’t say that I am going to be going to a lot of Bollywood movies from here on out, but if I ever come across a TV with a Bollywood movie on, I’ll definitely stop and watch for a little.