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At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan is experiencing what many directors only dream of. His film Homebound not only premiered in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section, but also came with creative input from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Ghaywan opened up about the surreal experience of receiving detailed notes on his screenplay from Scorsese himself.
“Well, the notes came in over e-mail, and… and detail. In detail. Because he started out on the script, and he said advised me to shave off a lot of the exposition. And, you know, this is the first time I’m actually writing a full screenplay. So that was a little daunting, because every filmmaker wants to say a hundred things in the same film,” Ghaywan shared. “So those things, and try to put restraint on some of the arcs that he said may impede your main narrative. Those points were really bang on because it helped me, like, pave the screenplay.”
He added that Scorsese’s guidance didn’t end with the script. “We actually went with a very big screenplay, and also during editing, like, he had such wonderful things to talk about. Like say how to make it shorter, make it to the point, and every bit of it. Sometimes it was such disbelief, you know, like to even comprehend that, ‘Hello, he is talking about my film.’ Of course, like we liked Masaan and it was supposed to be releasing in America. That didn’t happen, but I’m glad it happened here. Just like with Karan, even for me, it hasn’t sunk in yet. ”
Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, opened to a rousing reception, receiving a nine-minute standing ovation at Cannes. Karan Johar, whose banner Dharma Productions backed the film, also reflected on the journey. “I’m like, I have a film which has Martin Scorsese’s name along. I’ve never met the man. I’ve met the man actually, but not in relation to him,” he recalled. “My first meeting with Martin Scorsese was in Shah Rukh Khan’s suite in Berlin, where he and Leo walked in, and my knees started rattling a little bit. They were there for Shutter Island, and he was talking to Shah Rukh, talking about archiving Indian cinema, and I was just watching… I remember having a thought, ‘Will there ever come a day that I will have a conversation with him about cinema?’”
He added, “But doing a film with him is beyond that conversation. Yeah, it is. I’m like elated. I don’t know how to act cool about this. I’m sorry. I’m just like really excited.”
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