THE International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF) hosted a special Vancouver screening of the Crave original series Late Bloomer on Monday, July 27 at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, bringing creator and star Jasmeet Raina, known to millions online as Jus Reign, in front of a full house of fans, filmmakers, creators and community leaders.
The screening was hosted by iSAFF and presented by Blume, with EXNW as co-presenter and support from Anima. The evening closed with an open Q&A driven entirely by questions from the audience. Raina was joined by cast members Baljinder Singh Atwal, who plays
Jasmeet’s father Gurdeep, and Amit “BattleKATT” Aujila, who joined the series this season as Jasmeet’s manager Navi.
Late Bloomer, created by and starring Raina, follows Jasmeet Dutta, a turban-wearing Punjabi Canadian millennial balancing family, community and culture against his ambitions as an online creator. The third season premiered on Crave and Prime Video in April 2026. Guests included Randeep Sarai, MP for Surrey Centre, and Jessie Sunner, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills and MLA for Surrey-Newton, alongside artists and creators from across British Columbia including Inderjeet Monga, Chani Natt and Victoria-based music producer Gminor, plus producers, programmers and distributors from the BC screen sector.
“When I first started writing Late Bloomer, I wanted to tell a story that felt honest to my experience and reflected the people and community I grew up with. To see those stories resonate with audiences across Canada has been incredibly rewarding,” said Jasmeet Raina, creator, star and executive producer of Late Bloomer. “Moments like this remind me why we set out to make the show in the first place.”
“From the beginning, our goal has been to tell authentic stories that resonate with audiences while creating opportunities for South Asian talent both in front of and behind the camera,” said Baljinder Dhawan, executive producer of Late Bloomer. “Seeing a full theatre and the conversations that followed reinforced how powerful these shared experiences can be. We’re thankful to all of our community partners for bringing people together to celebrate Canadian storytelling.”
“Jasmeet’s work is exactly what iSAFF exists for. Stories made by our community, on our terms, that the whole country wants to watch,” said Mannu Sandhu, Producer and Festival Director, iSAFF. “Sixteen years ago we were fighting to get South Asian films onto a Vancouver screen. Monday night we filled one. That is what this festival was built to do, and it is the start of our countdown to September.”
The screening opens iSAFF’s countdown to its 16th edition. The festival runs September 23 to 27 in Surrey, opening with the iSAFF Awards Ceremony on September 23. Full programming, venues and ticket information will be announced at isaff.ca.
