Dr. Ji

Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind arrived in the United States in the early 20th century, enlisted in the US Army, and served during World War I. When he applied for US citizenship, the government denied him on racial grounds. His case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, where it became a landmark ruling on the legal definition of whiteness and the citizenship rights of South Asians in America. The decision went against him, but Thind never stopped fighting, and his persistence shaped the conversation about race and belonging in America for decades.

The film brings this towering historical figure to life, moving beyond the legal record to capture the man: his spiritual practice, his intellectual ambitions, and the specific indignity of being deemed unworthy of citizenship in a country he had served in uniform. Dr. Thind is one of the founding figures of Sikh American history, and this film makes the case that his story deserves to be far better known than it currently is.