Homebound · reception & legacy
2025 · Neeraj Ghaywan
How Homebound has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Premiered in Cannes 2025's Un Certain Regard to a reported nine-minute ovation, then rode a wave all the way to India's official Oscar entry and the 15-film shortlist — before missing the final five, which many at home read as a snub.
What's debated
The debate it generates is less about the film than the race: was Homebound robbed of the nomination India hasn't landed in decades, and does an ovation at Cannes translate to anything?
Its footprint
It grew out of Basharat Peer's 2020 New York Times essay 'Taking Amrit Home' about the COVID migrant exodus, and its awards run — with Martin Scorsese's name attached — made it a rare Hindi indie that non-Indian cinephiles felt obliged to catch up with.
Where it stands
Neeraj Ghaywan's long-awaited second feature — a full decade after Masaan, which also premiered in Un Certain Regard — instantly slotted into the modern Indian arthouse canon.