Homebound is a film which has a relatively humble premise, yet it’s in this simplicity that audiences come to fall in love with its central characters whose friendship endures in the face of systemic injustice. The social commentary which runs through the film doesn’t seek to manipulate or to promote any large agenda. Director Neeraj Ghaywan’s intentions are instead implicitly rendered through his mastery of visual composition. In this way, what the audience takes from the film is commensurate to how deeply they engage with it.
At a glance
- Film: Homebound (Netflix)
- Director: Neeraj Ghaywan
- Screenplay: Neeraj Ghaywan
- Cast: Vishal Jethwa, Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor
- Rating: ★★★★☆
From the get go, Homebound drags audiences into the chaotic lives of Chandan Kumar (Vishal Jethwa) and Mohammad Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter), two young men from marginalised backgrounds eager to better their lives through employment in the police force. The film opens with a shot of Kumar and Shoaib sitting on a truck rolling through an idyllic background, then immediately cuts to a train station crowded with other hopeful candidates journeying to write the police recruitment exam. Here, they become one of many willing to literally climb over each other for a shot at a better life.
This sets the tone for the rest of the film as Kumar, a man haunted by his caste-signifying last name and Shoaib, who faces relentless religious intolerance, fight for a sense of dignity which often comes at too high a cost.
Yet, these men are never reduced to mere victims. Often, vulnerability in one scene quickly manifests into a fiery rage. The friendship between Kumar and Shoaib is equally hot and cold. The two jibe and fight, yet continue to possess seemingly boundless love for each other, even when boundaries are crossed.
This duality is a credit to the talent of Khatter and Jethwa, with the latter recently winning the Snow Leopard Award for Best Actor at the Asian World Film Festival award. Importantly, it is their ability to portray the depth of their love for each other through their physicality, through the way they hug each other, pat each other and hold onto each other in moments of tension, which conveys to the audience something which words would otherwise fail to do.
Their deep love, shaped by years of shared struggles, is so compelling that the romance between Sudha Bharti (Janhvi Kapoor) and Kumar, pales in comparison. This is not to say that Bharti’s storyline was an unnecessary addition to Homebound. In fact, her character, who is also of a lower caste, yet has the privilege to pursue a higher education, had the potential to add a unique perspective to the story. However, she simply wasn’t given enough screentime to make an impact.
No doubt this was partly due to the cuts which were notoriously requested by the Central Board of Film Certification which undermined not only Kapoor’s character, but also the continuity within certain scenes.
In one instance, a character makes reference to a section of a cricket match which was later cut, making his dialogue seem somewhat out of place and forcing the audience to play a game of catch-up.
It’s unfortunate that such an ambitious film, keen to whole heartedly embrace hard-hitting social issues should have parts of it sanitised. Even more so, it’s unclear who it’s being sanitised for considering the fact that many are wary of the societal issues discussed within the film. Ghaywan also makes no attempt to hide that his work is a true story based on a real friendship that was featured in a report by The New York Times.
It would be unfair to criticise Ghaywan or anyone in the creative team for these cuts and despite the obvious hurdles faced by the director, Homebound, which has been announced as India’s entry for the 2026 Academy Awards, is a truly touching portrayal of friendship against all odds.
But the decision to censor leads one to wonder whether what was left on the cutting room floor might have done greater justice to Mohammad Saiyub and Amrit Kumar – the two real life friends who inspired Homebound.
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