Overview
In an interview with India Currents, filmmakers Sarita Khurana and Yoav Attias talk about their 2026 documentary, A Seat at the Table: South Asians' Rise in American Politics.
Charting the rise of South Asian voices in U.S. politics
A Seat at the Table: South Asians’ Rise in American Politics is a 2026 documentary that chronicles the rise of South Asian Americans in U.S. politics, tracing their journey from the margins to the forefront of American power. The film will premiere at CAAMFest on May 9, 2026, at the AMC Kabuki in San Francisco.
Directed by Sarita Khurana and Yoav Attias, the documentary explores the intersections of identity, belonging, and power through deeply personal storytelling.
“What we were witnessing wasn’t just a series of campaigns; it was a community stepping into its political power in America in a way we had never seen before,” said directors Khurana and Attias in a statement accompanying the release of the film. “Suddenly, we were watching people who looked like us, who carried the same names, traditions, and family histories, running for office across the country.”
In an exclusive interview with India Currents, filmmakers Sarita Khurana and Yoav Attias reflected on their creative process, the urgency behind the project, and the voices they aimed to center.
Witnessing a movement in motion
A Seat at the Table centers on the stories of four South Asians—three candidates running for public office, Amish Shah, Nabeela Syed, and Ravi Bhalla, alongside Harini Krishnan, a community organizer who works to support others seeking elected positions.
The project emerged from a noticeable shift in civic engagement, particularly within the South Asian community across the United States.
“In 2024, more South Asians ran and participated than ever before,” says Khurana. The idea for the film was to capture that momentum at a pivotal moment, sparked in part by a deeply committed executive producer, R. J. Narang, who helped initiate the project.
Looking back, the contrast is striking. In 2016, South Asian representation in government across the U.S. was minimal. Khurana recalls, “One of the characters in the film tells us there were only 12 state legislators in office in 2016, and by 2024 that number had almost quadrupled. That wasn’t because the population grew—it’s because we became more engaged.”
For the filmmakers, the documentary became a way to capture that rapid surge in participation as it was happening.
We are not a monolith
Attias explained they first identified nearly all South Asian candidates running for higher office across the country, then narrowed their focus based on competitiveness, visibility, and personal narrative.
“We looked at whose races were competitive, whose were high profile, and who the most engaging characters were.” Rather than tell a single story, the filmmakers sought to represent the range of backgrounds, experiences, and political journeys that reflect the diversity within the South Asian community.
This meant identifying campaigns that were not only politically consequential but also symbolically meaningful. Ravi Bhalla, for instance, stood out as a compelling figure—if elected, he would have become the first turbaned Sikh in Congress. Nabeela Syed brought a different kind of significance: as a hijab-wearing Muslim and one of the youngest members of the Illinois State Legislature, her campaign unfolded in a heavily Republican district, underscoring the challenges and possibilities of her candidacy.
Family, culture, and identity
The film highlights the central role of family in many immigrant communities that extend to South Asian political campaigns. “We see for South Asians how important our families are to making that work happen on the ground,” said Khurana. The film shows the depth of each candidate’s family involvement in their campaign efforts. Support often begins at home, expands to extended family, and then extends outward into the broader community and neighborhood networks.
The film also emphasizes that a culture rooted in service, duty, and justice shapes why candidates choose to run. In these campaigns. “Culture is represented as values,” Khurana explains, and not through surface-level markers like food or Bollywood references.
Ravi Bhalla’s sense of justice and service, for example, is rooted in his Sikh tradition, influencing his approach to public life even in a district that is not predominantly South Asian.
However, the film also warns that culture and identity can be weaponized in political campaigns, targeting candidates for their appearance and background.
In public discourse, comments range from “you are a turban-wearing Sikh, you look like a terrorist,” to the false accusations lobbied at Nabeela Syed by her opponent in her campaign about supporting Hamas during the war in Gaza.
Reflecting political diversity
The South Asian community in the U.S. leans heavily Democratic but is not politically uniform; it includes diverse ideological perspectives, including a growing engagement with the Republican Party.
With that in mind, the team made a deliberate effort to find more conservative candidates, “and not just go with progressive candidates, which would have been pretty easy.”
However, “our characters are all Democrats,” said Attias.
In Arizona, a politically purple state, they followed a moderate Amish Shah, who, some circles say, the filmmakers “would call a Republican.”
Eventually, they were unable to find a Republican candidate to fit the narrative needs of the film, though “it wasn’t for lack of trying.”
However, they represented Republican perspectives through institutions like the RNC and public figures such as Vivek Ramaswamy, J. D. Vance, and former Ohio State Senator Niraj Antani.
The documentary also shows how differing political views coexist within the same family. “When you see the film,” Attias explains, “you’ll see that Amish Shah’s parents are Trump-voting Republicans, along with many of their friends.”
Despite political differences, Shah’s parents and relatives remain among his strongest supporters. In fact, Shah’s father, who lives in Chicago, has said, “I’m a Republican, but when I land in Arizona, I’m a Democrat. And then when I come back to Chicago, I’m a Republican again.”
“There’s a kind of respect for each other’s viewpoints,” notes Attias. “They’ll argue and disagree, but at the end of the day, they are family.”
Generational shift
Khurana notes that second- and third-generation US-born South Asians feel more confident stepping into public life and civic leadership than their immigrant parents, who were more focused on building stability through education, tech, or business. “That’s part of the immigrant journey, and that’s like a generational shift.”
She adds that growing financial support in South Asian political organizing is tied to what is often described as the “model minority” profile — professionals in tech and business who are now contributing to campaigns and PACs. Alongside them are working-class and new immigrant voters who are joining this political shift where established economic power and emerging grassroots participation are shaping the community’s political engagement together, says Khurana.
In addition, Attias pointed out the growth of organizations that support candidates beyond the local grassroots level toward national-level coordination, including the formation of PACs. “Systems are being built now,” says Attias, that are increasingly well-funded and active in high-profile campaigns across the country.
From candidates to a community movement
A Seat at the Table uses a character-driven, cinema vérité style, capturing behind-the-scenes moments with the candidates, not just their public-facing moments. The film followed each campaign to understand “what it took on the ground” to make these political efforts happen, says Khurana, who split directing responsibilities with co-director Yoav Attias as they followed multiple characters across the country.
When Kamala Harris entered the presidential race in 2024, “That really opened up the film,” said Khurana, transforming the scope of the documentary and shifting the narrative from a set of individual campaigns to the broader story of South Asian political mobilization nationwide, particularly in key swing states during a highly charged election cycle.
“The community getting involved civically and organizing… became part of the story,” as South Asian voters and organizations activated across battleground states in response to the election, said Attias.
Khurana brought in Harini Krishnan and South Asians for Harris to provide that perspective, alongside organizations like Impact. “It was an important production choice,” she explains, allowing the film to capture national-level engagement through grassroots organizing.
The film as a civic engagement tool
The launch of A Seat at the Table coincides with the run-up to the midterms. “We’re getting the film out because we’re doing a lot of this impact work up through the midterms,” says Khurana. The film is being used as an engagement tool at community screenings, and partnerships with national and local organizations like Impact, and with universities, adds Khurana, to keep South Asians engaged in democratic issues and civic participation.
Khurana, who grew up in the U.S. and spent years in grassroots and community organizing, connects what she saw in the film to a longer history of South Asian community-building. “It was really incredible to witness just how much was happening in so many places,” seeing people not only run for office but also organize, mobilize voters, and build political infrastructure.
The movement has reached a more visible turning point in a longer immigrant journey, says Attias, who is not South Asian but was struck by how quickly political engagement has evolved across generations.
“There’s this generational shift,” he explains, describing a newfound sense of belonging in American political life for the younger generations stepping into that space with confidence and intent. “They see a place for them, and they’re actively going out and taking it.”
