Homebound is India’s official entry for Oscars 2026

Homebound documents the socio-political realities of contemporary India and captures the unprecedented displacement of migrant workers across the country following the outbreak of the COVID.

Watch | Homebound trailer: Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa fight caste and religion politics in Neeraj Ghaywan’s acclaimed second film

The film follows the story of two friends — Chandan (Jethwa), a Dalit, and Shoaib (Khatter), a Muslim, who are hopeful of joining the police force as constables. They also dream of a better future for their families in spite of the caste and religious biases they encounter.

Homebound, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, was recently selected as the second runner-up in the International People’s Choice Award of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film is scheduled to release in Indian theatres on September 26.

Speaking about the development, Neeraj Ghaywan said, “Rooted in the love for our land and our people, it carries the essence of the home we all share. To take our stories to the world and represent India at one of the biggest global stages for cinema is both humbling and a matter of pride, and for this I’m extremely grateful.”

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Calling the film “Ghaywan’s labour of love”, producer Karan Johar hoped that the film would “find a home in a million hearts across the world”.

Interestingly, Homebound was picked as India’s official entry over one of the highest-grossing India movies, Pushpa 2. Some of the other movies in contention were Telugu-language Kannappa, Kuberaa (in Tamil and Telugu) and Anupam Kher-directed Tanvi the Great.