Neeraj Ghaywan's film Homebound, a stunning humane portrayal of systemic brutality and rebellious valour, won a well-deserved second runner up at TIFF's International People's Choice Award this year. The film has been selected as India's Oscar entry.
Receiving its North American premiere on September 10 under the Gala Presentations segment at Toronto's prestigious Roy Thomson Hall, the film received a thunderous applause and standing ovation for actors Jhanvi Kapoor, Vishal Jethwa, Ishaan Khatter and director Ghaywan.
The film is one of the better films from the South Asian Diaspora, screened at #TIFF50 and unravels the gripping but humane tale of migrant workers and their plight during the COVID pandemic.
The film's entourage shone brightly at TIFF and audiences could not get enough of the young actors who vowed Toronto audiences with their authentic performances. Jethwa and Khatter stole the show, while Jhanvi Kapoor offered the much-desired support that makes the film unmissable.
Homebound fuses elements of Bollywood social drama with strong performances and atmospheric camera work. Jethwa and Khatter embody their characters with tremendous warmth and complexity, infusing the film with soul and sensitivity.
Produced by Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra under the banner of Dharma Productions and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, this spellbinding film is an adaptation of a New York Times' 2020 essay Taking Amrit Home (now retitled A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway) by Kashmiri journalist, script writer and author Basharat Peer.
The film, which created ripples when screened at the Cannes Festival earlier this year, follows the dreams, aspirations and life-altering journeys of two childhood friends growing up in a rustic North Indian village.
The earthy true-to-life film competed for the TIFF title along with films like Park Chan Wook's No Other Choice and director Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value and trails tall ambitions and misfortunes of two young friends whose close bond is threatened as they each pursue police work in a politically divided India.
This long-awaited second feature from celebrated Masaan director Ghaywan is a truly humane drama retelling the narrative of what it means to be a minority in today's India. The film manages to explore caste and religious identities of marginalized communities and the theme resonated well with the film festival audience.
Chandan (Vishal Jethwa), a Dalit, and Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter), a Muslim, face many career options, They could be content and resign themselves to low- paid labour jobs available in their village or they could go to university or even seek a job in Dubai that could reverse their fortunes.
The two protagonists in this moving drama are representative of India's minorities. One a Dalit and the other a Muslim, both of whom nurture tall dreams of securing police work as a means of infusing their lives with status and financial security. But their dreams die young in the shadows of systemic biases deeply rooted in casteism and communalism.
Both friends compete for a police job, that would help their dreams come true. Both are determined to beat the odds: out of 2.5 million applicants, they each hope to win one of just 3,500 police jobs available, believing that wearing a uniform will provide them with much-desired dignity and put a cover of their identities.
Economic pressures mount as Shoaib's newly disabled father can no longer work the fields, while Chandan desperately wants to build his parents a house so that his mother can retire. But time, circumstance, and the ongoing humiliation they suffer due to religious and caste-based bigotry threatens to crush their hopes -- and perhaps even their precious friendship.
As they inch closer to their dreams, mounting desperation threatens to break the bond that holds them together. The heart-wrenching Homebound depicts a clash between youthful ambition and bracing political realities.
Director Ghaywan born in Hyderabad, India, is a writer and director whose directorial work includes the shorts Shor (Noise) (2011), The Epiphany (2013), and Juice (2017); the TV series Sacred Games (2018-19) and Made in Heaven (2023); the features Shorts (2013) and Masaan (2015). Homebound (25) is his latest film. The film will be releasing theatrically on September 26th this year.
With the film, India has undoubtedly hit a home run!