Danish Renzu’s The Illegal picked up a special prize at the Mumbai International Film Festival in 2019. Two years later, the film has turned up on Amazon Prime Video. What appears like an ordinary pandemic- induced delay has taken on an added resonance, given the recent violence against Asian- Americans in Atlanta. Immigrant struggles are writ large in Renzu’s film, which shuns a glittering portrait of the American dream.
The film is about an Indian boy, Hassan (Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma), who’s accepted into a US film school. “Break the fourth wall,” he tells his parents enthusiastically, filming their happy faces on his DSLR camera before leaving home. No sooner does he reach LA, though, that the mood shifts. His maternal uncle cannot accommodate him, and he cannot afford on-campus stay.
So, he takes up a job at ‘New Delhi Café’, working late shifts and reading Fellini in class. Unsurprisingly, the character is modelled on Renzu, who left Srinagar in the 2000s to pursue engineering from UCLA. “Working 2-3 jobs, figuring out everything on my own. it taught me a lot,” the writer-director recalls. “The film is inspired by all those brave people I met during my struggling years in the US.” The Illegal’s script was written in 2010.
Political upheavals aside, Renzu wanted it to speak to something basic about the immigrant experience. “It’s about all dreamers, really. How it’s never a happy-go-lucky journey and you must find that inner strength to overcome all obstacles.” Beginning in Delhi, the film stars Adil Hussain as Haasan’s supportive dad. It’s a happy reversal from his angry, conservative father in What Will People Say (2017).
“Parents are always in a dilemma about letting their children go,” muses Hussain, who appears alongside Neelima Azeem in the film. “Anyone who watches The Illegal will connect with our characters. The film deals with a gamut of emotions that the protagonist goes through. Hassan’s parents play a critical role in that journey.” Renzu’s Half Widows, came out in 2017. He’s spent much of the pandemic between Srinagar and Mumbai. He is hoping to get back to LA soon and restart work. “I have written a couple of scripts,” the director shares, sounding as keyed up as his protagonist. “I’ll be announcing something soon.”