A Great Country

Ashok and Priya Shah immigrated to the United States as graduate students. Since then, they’ve kept their heads down, avoided conflict, and worked hard to achieve the American dream. Their three children do well in school, and both parents work to provide them with every advantage. When the family moves to the affluent, mostly white community of Pacific Hills, CA, Ashok and Priya are elated to have achieved their dreams. However, the couple’s children have different perspectives about success and how to attain it. Trouble is already brewing when the Shahs’ 12-year-old son, Ajay, is arrested after flying his homemade drone over the airport. The family’s long-held beliefs about the United States are tested as a child’s honest mistake turns into an international incident. Gowda (The Shape of Family) explores different attitudes among immigrants to the United States and their first-generation American children, as well as the challenges of growing up brown in a white-dominated society. Vikas Adam narrates with empathy, effectively communicating the family’s confusion, shock, and disillusionment.