Poetic Realism: Why Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ Will Win the Academy Award at the 98th Oscars
- Few films of recent years feel as urgent, as devastating, and as deeply human. This is less a film you see than a burden you bear afterward. Which is why I believe it will go all the way.
In the vast landscape of cinema, some films entertain, others provoke thought, and a rare few take hold of your heart and refuse to let go. Neeraj Ghaywan’s “Homebound” is one of them. A decade after his acclaimed debut “Masaan,” Ghaywan returns with a work that is both cinematic triumph and searing social document. As India’s official entry for the Best International Film Oscar, Homebound is more than a contender — it is a profound story of friendship, identity, and systemic fracture, set against the terrifying backdrop of a global pandemic.
Loosely inspired by Basharat Peer’s 2020 New York Times essay, “A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway,” the film tells a gut-wrenching and deeply human story that feels at once intimately specific and universally devastating. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who mentored Ghaywan through the process, “Homebound” arrives with sky-high expectations, and doesn’t just meet them — it surpasses them with devastating force.
A Tale of Two Indias, Embodied by Two Friends
At the heart of “Homebound” lies the unshakable bond between two lifelong friends, Shoaib Ali (Ishaan Khatter) and Chandan Kumar (Vishal Jethwa). Their small, dusty North Indian village is unremarkable, but their dreams are vast. Shoaib, a Muslim, and Chandan, a Dalit, share the belief that their ticket to dignity lies in a government uniform. Together, they join millions vying for the police entrance exam, convinced that success will shield them from the daily indignities of their birth identities.
But hope soon collides with reality. A year passes without results, leaving the friends suspended in limbo. Ghaywan uses this interlude to sketch their domestic lives with aching intimacy: Shoaib struggles to raise money for his father’s knee surgery, while Chandan dreams of building his parents a concrete home where his mother can finally rest.
Their caste and religion are not just labels — they are invisible walls that shape every interaction. Ghaywan portrays this with devastating subtlety. Chandan hides his surname in fear of prejudice. Shoaib faces religious profiling when asked for extra paperwork for a sales job. These are not grand confrontations but the thousand small humiliations marginalized communities endure every day.
Their friendship, however, is an act of quiet defiance. Their banter and loyalty feel remarkably authentic, and their bond is the film’s emotional anchor. In one unforgettable moment, when Shoaib is attacked in an Islamophobic assault, the gentle Chandan steps in front of him, silent but unyielding. These moments radiate the film’s profound love for its characters.
Stellar Performances That Define a Generation
A film this emotionally charged lives or dies by its performances, and “Homebound” soars.
Ishaan Khatter delivers a career-defining turn as Shoaib. He embodies a volatile mix of romantic idealism, anger, and vulnerability with astounding maturity. His live-wire intensity ensures that even in quiet scenes, the air crackles.
Neeraj Ghaywan’s direction is marked by empathy and precision. He revisits caste and injustice from “Masaan,” but widens his lens into a scathing portrait of modern India.
Vishal Jethwa, as Chandan, matches him step for step. His performance is a study in restraint, channeling generational trauma and quiet dignity with remarkable nuance. His calm exterior masks a storm, and when it cracks, the effect is devastating.
Together, Khatter and Jethwa form the soul of “Homebound.” Their chemistry makes every argument cut deep and every shared joy feel earned.
Janhvi Kapoor appears as Sudha, a lower-caste student Chandan quietly admires. Though a smaller role, Sudha’s arc offers a counterpoint — her belief in education as a tool of empowerment highlights another path through systemic barriers. While Kapoor’s urban polish occasionally peeks through her rural character, her presence broadens the canvas without distracting from the central friendship.
Ghaywan’s direction is marked by empathy and precision. He revisits caste and injustice from “Masaan,” but widens his lens into a scathing portrait of modern India. Wisely, he spends the film’s first half immersing us in Shoaib and Chandan’s world, ensuring we know them as more than victims before tragedy strikes.
The script is morally uncompromising but never preachy. Dialogue captures both the casual cruelty of prejudice and the coded language of survival. One standout scene — an after-match dinner following an India-Pakistan cricket game — drips with polite venom, exposing biases even among the so-called educated elite.
Pratik Shah’s cinematography is hauntingly beautiful. Rural landscapes glow with soft, poetic light that mirrors the boys’ dreams, while later pandemic scenes shift into stark, desolate frames that embody despair. His rendering of India’s mass migration during lockdown is both breathtaking and devastating, turning headlines into human tragedy.
The score by Naren Chandavarkar and Benedict Taylor underscores without overwhelming. Eschewing melodrama, it blends subtle orchestral swells with Indian rhythms, heightening emotion without manipulation.
The Journey Home: A Nation’s Crisis
The film’s title gains harrowing resonance in its final act. As the pandemic lockdown strands millions of migrant workers far from home, Shoaib and Chandan embark on a desperate journey back to their village.
Here, the story converges most closely with Basharat Peer’s essay. Their journey is not just physical but existential: a crucible of friendship, resolve, and faith in humanity. Along the way, they face the indifference of a state and the ugliness of prejudice amplified by crisis.
What makes this chapter shattering is the groundwork laid earlier. We don’t see anonymous figures trudging along highways — we see Shoaib and Chandan, whose hopes and fears we already carry. Their hunger, exhaustion, and terror are ours. Yet within the brutality, Ghaywan finds fleeting moments of courage and grace. The ending is an emotional gut punch: tragic, righteous, and unforgettable.
A Worthy Oscar Contender
Celebrated at Cannes, TIFF, and beyond, “Homebound” has already proven its global resonance, with themes of social inequity, intolerance, and the plight of migrants that feel painfully universal.
Whether it ultimately wins the Oscar is secondary. Its true triumph lies in giving voice to the silenced, in refusing to look away from uncomfortable truths, and in affirming the dignity of those living on the margins.
Want my bold prediction?
This is the film that will win the Academy Award for Best International Feature at the 98th Oscars.
Few films of recent years feel as urgent, as devastating, and as deeply human. “Homebound” is less a film you see than a burden you bear afterward. Which is why I believe it will go all the way. Even if only a few experience it and even if it doesn’t win many trophies, “Homebound” will be remembered as one of the finest works of Indian cinema to reach the world stage. For all the snubs, Oscars have a way of recognizing such seismic works, every now and then.
This film has the emotional intensity of “Roma,” the moral clarity of “Parasite,” and the haunting humanity of “The Lives of Others.” That rare combination makes it more than a contender — it makes it the inevitable winner in my opinion.
When it comes, the Oscar will not be a trophy but a witness — to friendship, survival, and the quiet power of human dignity on screen.
Ganpy Nataraj is an entrepreneur, author of “TEXIT – A Star Alone” (thriller) and short stories. He is a moody writer writing “stuff” — Politics, Movies, Music, Sports, Satire, Food, etc.