Homebound is a 2025 Hindi film based on a 2020 New York Times article by Basharat Peer. I specifically will not be naming the article as it is a spoiler for the film, but it is as powerful as the film itself. 

The film follows two childhood friends from a small village who dream of a job that will gain them repute and improve their families’ lives, but their circumstances constantly thwart their aspirations. It explores themes of friendship and systemic oppression, and is a very worthy selection by India for the Oscar’s, where it has made the shortlist for the Best International Film award. It has also made appearances at major film festivals such as Cannes, where it was nominated for the Une Certain Regard Award, and was the runner-up for the International People’s Choice Award at TIFF. 

Point 1: Friendship Never Ends

Although the film is about a lot more, and I’ll discuss those important topics in later points, I feel its real strength lies in the undoubted chemistry between the two leads – Shoaib played by Ishan Khatter and Chandan played by Vishal Jethwa. 

Films often struggle to get a message across when the fundamentals of its story and characters are not strong on their own. Writer and director Neeraj Ghaywan doesn’t miss his mark in crafting two very believable characters who are easy to root for while bearing their own flaws. Although you don’t see them grow up together in the film, you never for a second doubt that these two have been friends since they could remember. 

There is so much care taken in making sure that the anchor that is their friendship never lets the movie stray too far from its starting point. There are times in the second act where it takes a backseat, and although you don’t miss it as the events on screen stay constantly engaging, you can feel such a relief when it comes back to the forefront again. 

I would have liked this film just as much without the next few points which will cover the important topics that are discussed in the film. Just the journey of the two protagonists and cheering for them from beginning to end is credit to the performances and the directing, everything else is just the cherry on top.

Point 2: DIY DEI

Well, maybe just a cherry is a bit of an undersell. The topics the film is steeped in outside of the story of the protagonists are important and serious. I’ll be covering some events in the film, but none of these are spoilers, but rather small mundane examples.

Chandan is from the Dalit caste, which is the lowest caste in India. People in this caste are seen as lesser than others. This is shown through multiple incidences in the film. At one point, Chandan’s mother gets a job cooking for children at a school. Her cooking is widely praised by the students as well as the principal. However, the next day, parents show up to the school outraged that their children were allowed to eat food prepared by a Dalit woman.

Chandan throughout the film refuses to acknowledge his full name to avoid people knowing his caste. He gives a partial name instead that does not give it away. However, someone in an interaction catches on and intentionally makes inflammatory remarks, telling him how lower castes are entitled and get everything handed to them by the government, in reference to reservation quotas in India for lower castes to allow them to get opportunities that they otherwise would not be able to. 

You can feel the shame and embarrassment on his face and behaviour whenever his name or background comes up. The visceral misery of hiding your identity at every turn and hoping no one knows is a deep pain that you could feel whether you can personally relate or not.

Meanwhile, Shoaib is a Muslim who suffers similar, but different discrimination. When playing cricket with kids in his village, he is assaulted and told to go play with “his own kind”. He later faces issues at his job in terms of interactions and extra barriers to entry simply because of his religious background.

Despite both of them suffering in their own ways, they lean on each other to push themselves to keep going despite the obstacles. Whether they believe in themselves or not, they believe in the other person, encouraging them to try to achieve things that their parents have given up on. If society won’t allow it, they’ll do it themselves. Many times, depending on the situation, they took on each other’s names to navigate situations, showing their solidarity in the face of oppression.

In that sense, the constant focus on names is a subtle reminder of how much of the societal experience for people in these groups are shaped by something as simple as a name. I can imagine anyone from these groups will feel instantly represented in this film. Although none of this will be new for people in India who live this every day, it nonetheless a topic that is rarely covered in such openness in most Indian media. Additionally, I think this is particularly informative for those outside of India to get an understanding of the underpinnings of racism and how vile and deep it can go, as the aggressions range from tiny to reprehensible. It’ll make you ask yourself how we could lack such compassion for the very people we rely on. 

Point 3: Not So Glass Ceilings

As much as the previous point was more inspirational, this one is more of a downer. It would be so easy to make this film completely uplifting and lean into these oppressed people who rise above the systemic discrimination they face to achieve their dreams and everything turns out great. Ghaywan strays away from that though. Yes, this is based on a true story, but we have seen many movies take liberties from true stories to make them go the way they want. 

No, this film does not shy away from constantly beating down its characters. These systemic issues persist for a reason. Just having characters overcome their obstacles to succeed could be nice, but it’s not what’s actually happening. That is not the reality of the almost 400 million people that make up Dalits and Muslims in India. Most of them continue to live in much worse situations because of the systems in place. It is not representative to make a movie about two people that overcome it and show that it’s not so hard after all! 

Just to put this in perspective, 400 million people would make up the 3rd largest country in the world, beating out the United States. That’s how many people this movie about how difficult it is to just try to live your life is going to resonate with personally. That’s why I think it’s such an important movie for international audiences to see. There’s no competition – all oppression is awful. However, there is something to be said about the scale of the systemic oppression on display through this story. 

Homebound pulls no punches in making sure that that desperation and helplessness is felt throughout the film. The very first bit of the movie is about them dreaming to become police constables to earn money and reputation. The fact that their dreams are so small is indicative of the tiny boxes these people have been crammed into. They don’t dream of being famous or becoming doctors or astronauts. The system has beaten down these people so much that even young people have to recalibrate how high they can hope to achieve. Their ultimate goals are limited to wanting a home that doesn’t have a leaky roof and making sure everyone is healthy. The tragedy in the smaller aspects without even jumping to the more egregious things is harrowing.

And then as we continue, the writing is relentless in reminding you that hope is fleeting and that reality will always bite back. You cannot escape the destiny of your birth no matter how much you try. And even when you get close, you will have to suppress your pride and endure the mistreatment of others to prosper, challenging you to ask yourself whether standing up for yourself is worth losing everything you have worked for. 

A glass ceiling, as often used for women in the workplace, stops you from advancing in your career. But glass at least lets you see what lies ahead despite being out of reach. In this case, Chandan and Shoaib, much like the communities they represent, cannot even bring themselves to imagine what is possible because it is not possible for them.

Point 4: The Feels

The third act of the film takes a turn that almost feels like two different stories have been made into one movie. However, this is based on a true story, and the fact that that “second story” turn happens early enough allows the movie to stay cohesive. It took me a bit to readjust, but the writing brings it all together by the end to not have it feel too jarring.

Once you accept what the third act is going for though, you’re going to have to make sure you have tissues nearby. It suddenly becomes a gruelling and distressing watch as the protagonists try to get through this new situation. To preserve your experience, I will not delve too far, but this is probably the film that has made me cry the most so far this year. 

I’ll instead take this point to also praise the performances of the families of the two characters, as they provide the grounding points and motivation for both Shoaib and Chandan. The writing is also aware enough to take this story that is already covering how tough it is for anyone in these groups, but then doubling down to show how even within these groups, men like Chandan are still given better opportunities than women like his sister who was never even given the chance to strive for anything. 

Having all these characters fleshed out throughout the film allows you to feel for every setback any of them suffer. Despite the quick pace of the film, it takes just the right amount of time to focus on the right things so that when the feels hit, they hit hard. 

If you couldn’t tell from the review, I loved this movie. It is truly deserving of representing the country at the Oscar’s if it makes it there, but even if it doesn’t, its inclusion in the shortlist incentivized me to watch it, and I’m grateful for that. I hope this goes to show the importance of including international film in awards circuits. I attend film festivals and follow movies very closely, but most people do not. It’s important to give these great movies platforms and bring them to the attention of the general audiences, not just to see a great movie, but also to learn about the experiences of people in the world. 

If we do not learn about others, we will extinguish the compassion we need to make the world a better place.