Homebound is a Hindi film that is the official submission of India to 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature category.
According to N Chandra, the chairperson of the selection committee, 24 films in different languages were in the spotlight, in order to have the chance of representing India at the Oscars.
“A very hard decision to make. They were movies that touched lives of the people, he said. We were not arbitrators, we were coaches. We wanted players that have left an imprint”, he said.
The selection committee that comprised 12 members consisted of producers, directors, writers, editors and journalists.
Background
Homebound is a film directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and produced by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawala with Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor in the leading roles.
The movie narrates how two boyhood friends in a small north Indian village desire to have a police occupation which will make them feel dignified, the way they have never felt before.
Janhvi Kapoor had previously pondered on her experience working on the film.
She told that she did not consider it a milestone of her career or a means of earning recognition because the project is bigger than personal accomplishments.
“I never actually considered it as a legitimacy or a career milestone when I was doing Homebound because I do not know whether any of us made it about ourselves. As we were shooting the film, we had this kind of feeling that we were attempting to make something bigger than our size. I am engulfed in phoniness, but I mean it. When it premiered at Cannes and how people received it, we never had the sense that: people liked our work or movie. It was more of us transportation and making people feel something so personal or maybe even make people more empathetic people in a world where people were so preoccupied with finding an excuse to separate.”
She also added on it, “I never had such a feeling like: Abhi kaun troll karega mujhe? It was not like that at all.”
Vishal Jethwa, one of the main actors in the movie together with Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter said that he did not notice that he had to connect the film by his efforts in the auditions.
He shared his experience with Homebound and asked the question of whether he listened to reviews or not.
He said, “I am not very proud to say this but when I had first watched the movie with Ishaan, personally I did not understand the movie and I could not relate with the movie. However, at last, when I was able to see the same film in Cannes, the impression was absolutely different. I did not really bother with critical reviews thereafter but some Indians called me and said that they liked the movie. Indians are so eager to see this movie, particularly when they did not expect it to be directed by a Masaan director Neeraj Ghaywan. The friendship that is explored in Homebound is quite profound, and it is extremely unlikely to be found within cinema.”
Karan Johar reaction to Homebound Oscar Entry selection
Karan Johar, the person who has supported the film through Dharma Production, showed his thankfulness through an official statement. We are very proud and very delighted to have HOMEBOUND, chosen as the official submission of the Academy Awards in India… I am confident that this labour of love would have a place in a million hearts globally and that is what Neeraj Ghaywan posted.
The director also went to Instagram to look back on the moment and describe it as one of the most memorable milestones of his career. His words were as follows: One of the pinch me moments that I will never forget!!!! Very privileged, very humbled and very excited that our movie, Homebound is nominated as the official entry of India in Best International Feature category at the 98 th Academy of Awards. We thank the film federation of India the most to have faith in the plot, in us and what we can offer to the international arena on behalf of Indian cinema. Congratulations to all his team.
Last Year’s Official Entry
In September of last year, the light-hearted comedy with a significant social underlying message, Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao was selected to be the Indian representative at the Oscar among the nomination of the Best International Feature Film.
The FFI chairman Jahnu Barua said that Laapataa Ladies was chosen among 29 other movies.
I am extremely proud and pleased that our movie, Laapataa Ladies is selected to be the official nomination to the Academy Awards in India. My whole team deserves credit and this recognition is a credit of their hard work, whose efforts and enthusiasm made this story come to life. Cinema has ever been a strong tool to reach the heart, to cross the borders, to cause a meaningful dialogue. I wish this movie will appeal to people everywhere in the world just like it has in India,” the filmmaker Kiran Rao had said in a statement.
Directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Aamir Khan, Laapataa Ladies was a fresh cast of Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav and Chhaya Kadam with a strong cameo of an old boy Ravi Kishan. The movie appeared in cinemas on March 1 and was admitted by both critics and viewers, and gained even more momentum by word-of-mouth.
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