Homebound explores the experiences of two childhood friends portrayed by Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa after they attempt to pass the national police exam. It also features Janhvi Kapoor as Chandan's classmate.[7][8][9][10]
The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May,[11][12] where it reportedly received a nine–minute standing ovation following the screening.[13] It was theatrically released in India on 26 September to critical acclaim.[14][15]
Shoaib and Chandan are childhood friends from a small village in North India who dream of becoming police officers, hoping that the job will bring them the respect they never had. However, as they come closer to their goal, pressure and struggles create problems in their friendship. Sudha also inspires Chandan to pursue college studies.
The film's original story was inspired by The New York Times 2020 essay Taking Amrit Home (now retitled A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway) by Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer. It recounts the story of two young migrant workers in Surat, who were caught in the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.[21][22][23]
During the pandemic, the story caught the eye of director Neeraj Ghaywan, after it was recommended by producer Somen Mishra at Dharma Productions. This is Ghaywan's second feature after debuting with Masaan (2015) since 10 years, which received widespread acclaim. Subsequently, Dharma Productions bought the rights from The New York Times and script development started, wherein the backstories of both protagonists were fictionalised, while keeping the essence of the original.[24] French producer Mélita Toscan du Plantier brought in Martin Scorsese on board as executive producer.[24][13] Scorsese also helped Ghaywan in crafting the screenplay and later during the editing process, watching three different cuts of the film.[25] The film was shot in 2024 mainly in and around Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh state.[26]
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) reportedly asked Homebound's director to make 11 modifications, thereby censoring 1 minute and 17 seconds of the film's footage. Certain words were muted and replaced at 6 places, including ‘gyan’. The makers were also asked to delete the dialogue ‘Aloo gobhi…khaate hai’. Further, a two-second visual of a man performing puja was censored. The Revising Committee also made changes in a dialogue in an important cricket match scene at 1 hour and 4 minutes, deleting 32 seconds from the sequence.[32][33]
The series of cuts asked by the country's film certification board sparked debated around, what many called CBFC's 'arbitrary and whimsical' approach to how films are certified.[34][35]
In an interview with Zoom, Ishaan shared his perspective on censorship in Indian cinema.
"Different films are often treated with different standards. Some receive leniency despite questionable content, while others—especially social films with a particular perspective—face more scrutiny, as artists and audiences, we’d appreciate an equal and open-minded approach where every story is treated fairly.”[36][37][38]
The film was released in theatres on 26 September 2025.[39]
Critial reception
Neeraj Ghaywan at 2025 Cannes Homebound premiere. Ghaywan was praised for his direction, with many hailing him as one of the best directors working in the Indian cinema right now.
Homebound received universal critical acclaim from the critics, who praised Ghaywan’s direction, the writing and the dialogues, performances, the themes and the editing. The film’s handling of caste-narrative and social commentary also received praise. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 30 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.[40]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[41]
Namrata Joshi of Cinema Express gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "There is an authenticity to Homebound that goes beyond the writing and the language. It’s in the realness of the spaces.[42]
Leslie Felperin, reviewing for The Guardian, described the film as "an emotionally rich study of friendship" with "excellent lead performances, strong cinematography," and praised the director for creating "a realist work about impoverished young men from a rural northern Indian town" that is "neither dumbed down nor sanitised for westerners."[43]
Writing for Variety, Siddhant Adlakha called Homebound — "the first time in ages that a mainstream Hindi-language production has felt vital - at least since Ghaywan's own Masaan," and described it as "a moving character piece, as well as a searing indictment of modern India." He also praised Khatter and Jethwa's performances as "immensely endearing and unpredictable."[44] Shrishti Negi of News18 India concurred, citing Variety's praise of the duo's performances.[45]
Writing for The Hindu, Anuj Kumar described the film as "a deeply immersive and emotionally resonant cinematic experience, that is both specific to the pandemic and universal in its tone and tenor," and concluded by calling it "a significant document of our times when social trust seems to be in a long-term decline."[46]
Santanu Das of Hindustan Times said "Neeraj Ghaywan film hailed as 'deeply empathetic' with particular praise for Ishaan Khatter".[47]
Aseem Chhabra, writing for BBC Culture, highlighted the film’s exploration of caste and religious identities and noted that its depiction of marginalized communities resonated strongly with festival audiences.[49] Renuka Vyavahare, writing for The Times of India, gave the movie 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Homebound raises many questions. How did we get here? What has made us so bereft of empathy and compassion? A soul-stirring observation of a world growing cold, this is filmmaking at its finest.” [50]
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and said that "Neeraj Ghaywan's second feature in a decade may or may not bring an Oscar home, but what it offers is compassion and cautious optimism, something we so desperately need in these times.[51] Subhash K Jha writing for News 24 gave 5 stars out of 5 and stated that "I have seldom seen a film where not a single frame can be removed without seriously damaging the end product. This is it."[52]Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated it 4/5 stars and commented that "The film is deeply moving and the director's view of social reality is profoundly compassionate."[53]Anna MM Vetticad writing for The Economic Times said in her concluding remarks that "Homebound is shorn of Amar Akbar Anthony-style melodrama and overt messaging that once characterised Hindi film portrayals of communal harmony. Shoaib and Chandan's devotion to each other speaks for itself, serving as an urgent reminder of the amity that survives among us against all odds."[54]
In December 2025, author and journalist Puja Changoiwala alleged plagiarism, saying that the producers of Homebound plagiarized her 2021 novel Homebound. She said that they "have not only misappropriated the title of my book, but have also blatantly reproduced substantial portions of my novel in the second half of the film—including its scenes, dialogue, narrative structure, sequence of events, and other creative expressions.” She subsequently initiated legal proceedings.[58][59]
Dharma Productions denied these claims stating: "The allegations of copyright infringement are unfounded, and Dharma categorically denies the same. A legal notice has been received and duly responded to by Dharma’s legal counsel. Homebound is an officially licensed adaptation inspired by the New York Times article by Basharat Peer, with all requisite rights lawfully acquired and due credit duly provided."[60] Screenwriter Sumit Roy, who co-authored Homebound's screenplay said that he was neither familiar with the author who made the allegations against the film, nor with her novel, and that the claims are "unfounded."[61] With regard to the title of the screenplay, Roy said that they "debated many titles before settling on Homebound.[61] Roy also said that his screenplay was influenced by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, commenting that "everything I said about Ray and how his humanism influenced Homebound remains as valuable as ever."[61]
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