The promise of a bigger and better life in Canada where his older brother has already settled has long inundated the dreams of Navraj, a young Punjabi man in Chandigarh. But when his long-awaited visa finally gets approved, he realizes the cost of leaving home may be far greater than he ever anticipated. More than leaving behind his friends, he cannot bear to break the news to his beloved grandmother who adoringly depends on him.
In his impressive directorial debut, Jaskirat Singh explores the perennial dilemma of leaving home with beautiful simplicity and an emotional clarity that makes the story at once feel intimately relatable and deeply profound. Speaking of the pain harbored both by those who set sail and the ones who stay behind, the film pulsates with a deeply moving performance by Shahbaz Bajwa, who embodies Navraj with tenderness and raw emotion.
Jaskirat Singh
Jaskirat Singh is a filmmaker and editor trained at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, and an alumnus of the Locarno Documentary School. Drawn to stories that challenge mainstream Punjabi stereotypes, he aspires to explore the community’s quieter, more intimate narratives. His directorial debut, As Dusk Falls, is deeply personal – rooted in his experience as the only one among five siblings still in India while the others migrated abroad. His work includes Mintgumri (2021), which screened at Dharamshala, Reykjavik, and New York; and In The Month of Love (2020), where he contributed as a script supervisor for its IFFR premiere.
