The issue of immigration is one of the trending topics in America these days. But for For Here or to Go screenwriter Rishi Bhilawadikar, the fight has been going on for much longer. And after creating a blog post about the trouble with getting—and holding—a visa in the U.S., he decided that the story needed a larger platform.

That platform is Bhilawadikar’s first film For Here Or To Go. It follows Vivek Pandit, an aspiring Indian tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, who finds himself quarreling with the peculiar and unforgiving American immigration system.

Based on nothing more than a visa stamp, Vivek will either keep his dream alive or be forced to return home to India.

Creative Screenwriting spoke with Bhilawadikar about how he learned to write in order to tell this story, communicating through entertainment, and taking an idea from blog post to a finished film.

Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit in For Here or to Go

What made you want to get involved with screenwriting?

Rishi Bhilawadikar

I was an accidental screenwriter. I don’t have a background in screenwriting, but the story I had to tell is very compelling. It actually started out as a blog post, but I thought it need a more grand platform.

I had some characters and outline in mind, so I Googled screenwriting, and eventually taught myself. I had to write quite a bit before I got it, but the story was compelling and no one else was telling it, so that’s what made me want to learn how to write screenplays.

Did the blog post go viral or receive any major press?

It did not, but the blog itself, “Stuff Desis Like,” was highly successful. I was writing about Indian culture in every part of the world and with every part of society. So it wasn’t just about doctors and engineers, it was farmers, small business owners, and social entrepreneurs, plus finance and CEOs. There was an interesting thing that was beginning to happen.

I had written a post called “Being Everywhere.” It was about the typical Indian’s life, being everywhere. That was sort of the “Aha!” moment for me. It was getting some traction, but the post was not nearly saying everything I wanted to say.

Indians have been coming to the U.S. since 1965, but nobody is telling that immigration story, that in-between stage about what it takes to adopt a new home. That blog post really started this idea for me.

Amitosh Nagpal as Amit in For Here or to Go

What made you choose a fictional narrative rather than a documentary to tell this story and raise awareness?

That’s a very good question.

There is enough data from political advisors or lawyers trying to explain the subject matter, so I didn’t want to do another documentary because it would rely on these same experts and data. What I wanted to do was make this problem very human and very easy to share. That meant it needed to be entertaining. So I wanted to humanize the whole situation, and also explain the complexity in a simple manner.

There are also comical characters in the film, despite the serious subject matter. Was this also meant to make the film more accessible to everyone?

Absolutely. It’s light-hearted and entertaining, so people can connect and digest the subject matter. It’s easier for people to connect when they are laughing.

Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit and Melanie Chandra as Shveta in For Here or to Go

What were some of the specific steps you took to take this story from a blog to a screenplay to a finished film?

The biggest creative challenge for me was ambiguity. It wasn’t a story of romance of revenge, so I had a lot of problems with the theme of ambiguity. It was hard to raise the stakes so the audience could connect with the characters, so that was biggest challenge to overcome.

As a designer, I made websites and apps for people, so I kept things focused on the user. So I employed those techniques to determine who the viewer would be and what parts they would relate to in the film. I wrote very short descriptions and narrations of real-life events that I wanted to write, and then I went very broad with the characters. Instead of writing the story, I created a diagram. That way, I would know who related to what and everything within the plot.

The central premise of the film is that someone’s interactions with other people and with the country will be completely different depending on their visa status. If I comment on a getting a student visa versus a working professional versus someone who has gotten their green card, my behavior and attitude changes completely. That was very fascinating to observe, and really gave me a range of characters. The different visa stamps gave the characters their motivations.

So I combined this with my design thinking, and then I tested out those ideas with my friends and family members. I had a few scenes that weren’t working, but I ended up taking a class with the San Francisco Film Society. That was immensely helpful. It taught me the discipline and structure to develop my story. After the class, it only took me three weeks to finish up the screenplay.

Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit in For Here or to Go

Are there positive steps being made to help people with these visa problems in America?

The main issue is that foreign immigration discriminates based on country of birth. If you are from India and I am from South Africa and we apply for the same position for the same pay in the same company, I will get my green card in 6-8 months and you get your green card in 20 years.

Plus, you’d need to remain in the same position for those 20 years. And that’s solely based on country of birth. There’s a huge catalog of about 1.5 million people that are stuck in this limbo.

There is a bill in congress that passed the House in 2013, but it didn’t quite get through the Senate. That bill seeks to do exactly what my film portrays, which is to bring fairness and a humanizing face to the system.  It has been re-introduced, and I’m actually in D.C. right now where we just had a screening for the House of Representatives. It needs to get votes, so it will need to pass the House and the Senate to be made a law.

There is one character in the film who encourages the “best and brightest” young Indians to stay in India, versus coming to America where they may not thrive. Is this based on a real character or a real idea in India?

There was some research published by an academic who concluded that the U.S. immigration system was so broken that people would eventually stop waiting for a green card. Instead, they would go back to their home countries to pursue their businesses and live with their families. That character came from that research. That is now what is actually happening.

A lot of people are going back to their home countries. There were some real stories happening while I was writing this script about people going back and starting ecommerce companies. This one guy is now competing with eBay in India with his own ecommerce company.

These policies are not immigrant-entrepreneur friendly. Fifty percent of the start-ups in Silicon Valley have an independent founder, so if there’s not more freedom for immigrants, they will start to go back to their own countries and create businesses there.

Melanie Chandra as Shveta and Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit in For Here or to Go

If there were an entrepreneurship program in America for immigrants, would that help the job-sponsorship issue?

At this point, you can’t really apply to anything unless you have a visa that is sponsored by a company. But most companies don’t have the resources to do it, or they wish to avoid the legal side of things.

The opening to the film presents the traditional, “Anything is possible” idea of America, but then reality sets in. Is America still seen as the “Land of opportunity” for immigrants who want to work and thrive here?

It really depends on the perspective and where you end up. I understand both sides of the debate.

For me, I understand that this movie wouldn’t have been possible anywhere other than America, so I’m an example that it is full of opportunities if you are willing and resourceful. American is the place where you can make something that is almost impossible. For me, I was someone who didn’t know much about films, but I was in San Francisco, which was tremendously helpful. I could use the information that I had, and figure out who to work with and who to connect with. So in that sense, for those with determination, America can provide those opportunities.

At the same time, it’s taken me seven years to get it to this point. I don’t know how many people would have the patience to pursue this. Today’s world is so competitive that you have to be involved 100 percent to see your idea through.

Unless there is support, it’s very difficult to achieve in America. I still get a sense that there are more questions than answers.

Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit in For Here or to Go

Congratulations on the film. You’ve certainly jumped some major hurdles to get it made. Is there anything else you’d like to mention we haven’t already discussed?

It’s a small, independent film, and a bilingual film, but we still hope that a lot of Americans get the chance to see it. The idea is to get both the general American public and immigrants the chance watch and explore the story. I hope it gets remembered with other immigrant stories, because these are very important in today’s times. I hope that this story can get the issue in front of the American public.

Check out Rishi’s blog post, “Being Everywhere“.

Featured image: Melanie Chandra as Shveta and Ali Fazal as Vivek Pandit in For Here or to Go.

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