‘Surkhaab’, the film, was partly shot in Chandigarh and Canada was released in six cities in Canada and four regions in the US. This is a story about the survival of immigrants who in the era of globalization have to fight for even basic needs. The film explores the real-life challenges and obstacles faced by a reluctant immigrant to one of the most beautiful, peaceful and so called “safe” countries in the world. “The release of the film was like someone from Bangladesh showing up in Bollywood or the Punjabi film industry, and releasing a Bangladeshi film in the local PVRs here, at primetime shows. But we managed it,” said Vivek Kumar, producer of the film.
“We could have rented a theater and shown the film, but to us that has never been a pure a theatrical deal,” says Barkha Madan, the film’s director and lead actress of Punjabi origin. And not only Punjab, but even immigrants from places like Iran or the former USSR and Africa have similar stories. So, it also blends in perfectly with the story,” he says. The movie is put up in theaters owned by immigrants and the audience in Canada were mainly Punjabi South Asians but in the US there were more Americans and less South Asians, says Kumar.