Ben Rekhi

“The bridge building movement in the US needed to be elevated. This movie gives the right message at the right time,” Olikara tells us over a Zoom call. “I hope Indians can learn about the challenges the American democracy is facing—for a long time there has been a partnership between the oldest democracy and the largest democracy. It’s also to see that Indian Americans now have a role to play in the social and political life of this democracy. When they realise that, there will be place to make more partnerships between Indians and Indian Americans.”  

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For Rekhi, the need to make this documentary came from his own American-Sikh upbringing. “That allowed me to look at two points of view at the same time,” says the filmmaker known for Waterborne, which is about a fictional biological attack on LA’s water supply, and The Hidden Vote, which profiled minorities who support Trump. 

Raj Krishna

“Cinema is a powerful tool to bring people together. I saw Susan Bro, and she used the death of her daughter to shed light on the fact that we can avoid more like that later. I went to her and said ‘I want to tell your story’, and that became the beginning. We also spoke to Mark Gerzon, who wrote the book [by] the same name [The Reunited States], and got us in touch with other stories like that.” At the time of taking [his project] to Krishna, Rekhi was assessing if he was Indian or American, even as he felt disturbed at what happened during the 2016 elections. 

“This project made me feel I could have a hand at healing the country,” says Krishna, who in 2020, wrote and directed his first film Padmavyuha, the world premiere of which was at the opening night of the Indian International Film Festival Toronto (IIFFT). 

“The universal reason for doing this is the political polarisation happening all over the world. And we talk about ways we can make the differing opinions more healthy—learning to have a conversation is one of them. There is no need for heated discussions.”

For now, they want the movie to prove that our diversity is what  binds us. As Krishna says, “Embrace the diversity. It is proven that the more diverse the teams, the more productive the outcome. We have to remember that we need each other—you can’t eliminate someone who prays differently, thinks differently. We have other challenges like poverty, and fighting the virus to focus on. We hope this documentary opens up people’s minds.”