Vivek (Ali Faizal) and Schveta (Melanie Chandra) prepare for an impromptu Bollywood dance number in For Here or To Go?. (Photo courtesy of Many Cups of Chai Films)

The plight of undocumented immigrants hangs over the national consciousness. Which ones can come to the United States? How long they can stay? What should they do once they arrive? Rishi Bhilawadikar, here from India on a work visa since 2005, wants people to know that legal immigrants face difficult answers to some of those same questions, whether it is being covered or not.

Bhilawadikar, who specializes in design and technology development, feels so passionately that other people need to know about this topic that he stepped as far out of his comfort zone as he could to address it: With no storytelling experience or formal training, he wrote a screenplay from scratch.

That screenplay, conceived in 2010, became “For Here or To Go?” a new film from first-time feature director Rucha Humnabadkar that draws on Bhilawadikar’s experience in America.

The film tells the story of Vivek Pandit (Ali Fazal), an aspiring tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley whose tenure in the U.S. is threatened by the impending expiration of his work visa. The film, out in 25 cities including D.C. this Friday, screened on Monday in the office of U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, who’s currently pushing a bill through Congress that would remove limits on the volume of “high-skilled” immigrants who can obtain employment-based green cards.

Vivek has ambitions to start his own company, but he’s held back at times by a complex system of immigration laws that employers prefer to avoid when hiring new staffers. Bhilawadikar didn’t have to go far to create this character; he’s encountered much of the same resistance. Even while developing the film, he had to maintain a day job or risk losing his visa. Meanwhile, the debate over whether Indian immigrants could be more productive in their homeland echoed in his ears, and makes its way into the film as well. “It’s more of an American hustle than an American dream,” Vivek says in voiceover.

Before “For Here or To Go?” Bhilawadikar’s only comparable creative project was the comedic blog Stuff Desis Like, inspired by Stuff White People Like. But after a few years bouncing from companies like Gap and Wal-Mart, Bhilawadikar says he grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of media representation around the issues he and his friends were facing. “Hopefully this puts a human face on these people,” he said at Monday’s screening.

The filmmaker could have made a documentary, drawing on a wealth of existing data and research. But he didn’t want viewers to associate his plight with homework.

“I wanted to make something that is accessible and entertaining, not super data-heavy,” Bhilawadikar told DCist after the screening. “I really wanted to bring to life the real characters and real lives, and make it something entertaining that people can share and they’re not bored to watch it.”

Even amid serious themes, the film doesn’t lack entertainment value. Characters at one point break into a surreal Bollywood dance number mid-scene. In a distraction from his problems, Vivek flirts and banters with the photographer Schweta (Melanie Chandra), who sees his issues through a different lens. Vivek’s quippy roommates provide comic relief.

Yet even the laugh lines are laced with melancholy and frustration. The movie’s title comes from a scene in which one character doesn’t understand what a restaurant cashier means by “For here or to go?” But underlying that confusion is a more existential dilemma: Do I belong in this country or not?

Bhilawadikar, who grew up speaking Hindi in Mumbai, himself found the fast food question puzzling the first time someone asked. “I didn’t know exactly what was being asked. It was so out of context,” he says. “It plays well with the theme of the challenges of assimilation and uncertainty.”

That uncertainty could diminish in the coming years, if Chaffetz (who has made quite a few local headlines of late) successfully gets his bill passed.

He has bipartisan support from more than 150 of his colleagues for the measure, which would eliminate existing per-country limits on employer-based green cards, allowing a backlog of Indian immigrants to get a long-overdue assurance of their right to remain in the U.S. An identical bill passed the House in 2015, only to fail in the Senate.

Chaffetz was scheduled to appear at Monday’s event but did not attend. Still, Bhilawadikar and members of the Hindu American Foundation, which has been promoting the film in tandem with its political activism, are confident in the congressman’s support.

In the meantime, Bhilawadikar tells DCist he already has another movie idea in the works, touching on another hot-button question: “What does it mean to be a patriot in today’s world?” He also wants other filmmakers to learn about and benefit from his lengthy but fruitful experience shepherding and promoting the film.

“Making it is one thing,” Bhilawadikar says. “Getting it heard is a completely other thing I was hoping would be easier. Obviously not.”

For Here or To Go? opens Friday at DC Cinemas in Falls Church, AMC Loews Rio in Gaithersburg and Regal Germantown.