Homebound and the duty audiences owe to good cinema

As audiences of contemporary cinema, we often complain about the current state of Bollywood films. Homebound is that rare Hindi film which deserves your support

Once in a while from the mainstream Hindi cinema establishment comes a film like Homebound that leaves a gaping hole in your heart. Backed by a brilliant ensemble cast, poignant dialogues, masterly cinematography, editing and writing, Homebound is a winner in every possible way. It shows a country that we all know too well but don’t want to admit or recognise. Cinema amplifies the truth though and when you encounter it on the big screen, it shakes your conscience and you are left wondering if you too are complicit in this systemic discrimination of the marginalised that the film portrays with such nuance.

When films like Homebound also perform well at the box office, it emboldens producers to attempt new stories and storytelling in cinema, to introduce new faces and a new aesthetic on screen. (AFP)

Homebound is akin to a mirror that we don’t wish to face fearing the tough questions it will provoke. Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars 2026, Homebound charts the story of two rural youth and best friends, Chandan and Shoaib, both aspirants for a government job. Life doesn’t go as planned and the friends leave home in search of an occupation elsewhere. Shoaib has to organise funds for his father’s medical treatment and Chandan works tirelessly, often going hungry, to send money back home to build a simple house for his family.

Homebound also bears testimony to the hopelessness of the rural youth. In one of the most poignant scenes in the film, Chandan’s mother sends a big jar of pickles for her son complaining that he doesn’t eat well at all. Then the Covid epidemic strikes, dealing the final blow. Chandan and Shoaib are forced to leave their workplace and set out on a long journey home beset with challenges and uncertainty.

To see what happens next, please go watch the film. Or perhaps you already know the end by now. And before you make assumptions, this isn’t poverty porn. Let us not be held hostage by categories, mostly ill-informed ones. There’s not an ounce of dishonesty in what Homebound shows. Caste and religion-based sectarianism that the film shows is an everyday reality in this country.

As audiences of contemporary cinema, we often complain about the current state of Bollywood films. We fuss about the box office and then are told that audiences will return when the quality of films improves. Homebound is that rare Hindi film which deserves your support and applause. But are we doing enough to champion or celebrate excellence at the cinemas? Or, perhaps, waiting for the film to come to an OTT platform and watch from the convenience of home? And applaud it further when it wins an international award.

There are several Indian movies that win big awards or other recognition at film festivals abroad but struggle even for a limited release at home. Which filmmaker wouldn’t want their creation to be shown in the country of its origin?

When films like Homebound also perform well at the box office, it emboldens producers to attempt new stories and storytelling in cinema, to introduce new faces and a new aesthetic on screen and just not do hackneyed stuff over and over again. Why wait for a foreign award for that validation? Why can’t we do it ourselves and help create a cinema culture where movies of all kinds, small and big, the glamorous and not so glamorous ones can breathe and co-exist?

Author: Prof. Kunal Ray, Faculty of Literary & Cultural Studies, FLAME University.