An Oscar campaign can cost Rs 100 cr and above. Can Homebound, with Martin Scorsese in its corner, bring it home?

“In our experience with Writing with Fire, we realized it’s exciting when you do a curveball from outside the system, be ingenious with limited resources, and use this juggernaut to build some solid visibility around the film. Using every dime and dollar to ensure the film is watched,” says Rintu Thomas, whose 2021 film was the first-ever Indian documentary feature to be nominated in the Oscars category. “When Rintu and Sushmit’s (Ghosh) Writing with Fire was in contention, I remember sending the film to Ava Duvernay and requesting for her support. She was so kind. She really talked up the film. Endorsement from prominent creators with credibility, heft, and clout in the international ecosystem helps shift the narrative for your film,” says Smriti Kiran, producer and creative impact strategist.

Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing with Fire were nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the Academy Awards.

Homebound features in Oscar’s toughest category

But the International Feature category is an altogether different beast. While it’s mostly the documentary filmmakers who are eligible to vote in the documentary categories (just like it’s only the actors for the acting categories), that’s not the case with the international feature category. Academy voters have to now opt in and watch all other contenders to vote for their pick, making this category one of the toughest to crack at the ceremony. How does one then locate the voter?

Archana Misra, CEO of Product of Culture, which does marketing and strategy for global breakout films with focus on Oscar campaigning, believes Homebound has already secured sustained interest through its festival run. An average white voter would be aware of the film, given they’re the audience that’s present at prestigious global film festivals like Cannes. “The Academy has diversified and increased its voter bank over the past few years. But majority of the voters are still white,” says Archana, adding, “From the feedback we’ve received from Academy voters about Homebound, they feel it’s a universally resonant tale yet very locally rooted. The filmmaker, Neeraj Ghaywan, is also a distinct voice and very well-respected in the international film circles.

Martin Scorsese in conversation with Neeraj Ghaywan in New York.

Shruti Ganguly, New York City-based filmmaker, also hails Neeraj as one of the primary draws for Homebound. “I was present at the recent New York screening of the film, which was followed by a Q&A session that Martin Scorsese did with Neeraj. I was surprised to find out how invested Scorsese was in the film. Usually, we see these EPs get attached to a film after it breaks out. That feels a bit of a slap-on. But in Scorsese’s case, he’s been involved in the making since its scripting stage and even gave feedback for the drafts, and the cuts during the edit stage. He also said he’s been a fan of Neeraj since his first film Masaan (2014). That speaks a lot about Neeraj and his appeal,” says Shruti.

Homebound’s Oscar competition

Homebound is pitted against the best of the best from across the world, including the likes of Sentimental Value (Norway), The Secret Agent (Brazil), and No Other Choice (South Korea). “We’re doing as many screenings as we can. Right now, the situation is that all screening rooms of Los Angeles are completely booked out. Because every film is at the peak of its campaigning right now,” says a source close to Dharma Productions who’s in the US leading Homebound’s Academy campaign. “So far, the response we’ve got is fairly positive. So, we’re feeling very optimistic,” he adds. Aranya Sahay’s indie Humans in the Loop, streaming on Netflix, has also entered the Oscars race. It’s contending for the Best Adapted Screenplay category, and is funding its Oscar campaign through a grant by Film Independent (they refused to disclose the amount).

Humans in the Loop is contending for the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the Oscars.

It helps Homebound’s chances that it has been selected as India’s official entry despite its dismal box office performance back home. The film got a very limited, strategic release in Indian cinemas last month, and could barely earn Rs 3 crore throughout its brief lifetime. But the chances of that coming in the way of its consideration by Academy voters are quite distant. “The average Academy voter is a 65+-year-old white man. He may have even hung up his boots. So, he’s clearly not tuned into how the film did back home. But at the same time, through these screenings across the US, you’ve to make sure that they know more about that film over any other international feature contender,” the source argues.

Homebound heavily censored by CBFC

Homebound was also heavily censored by the Central Board of Film Certification in India. Thus, the final cut the Academy voters are watching is not the same as the one that earned all those laurels at the Cannes Film Festival. While there were initial murmurs that Ghaywan, and even Scorsese, aren’t quite pleased with the turn of events, the source at Dharma Productions insists that there’s barely any difference in both the cuts. “It’s not even a concern,” they add. A seasoned publicist, instrumental in orchestrating successful Oscar campaigns of multiple breakout films over the past couple of years, also believes the watered down cut wouldn’t be a hurdle for the Academy voters. “Censorship speaks more about the country than the filmmaker. Iranian films get censored all the time, yet they’ve been Academy favourites for years,” says the publicist.

Anora spent a whopping $18 million on its Oscar campaign.

Oscar campaign can set you back by Rs 160 cr

The fact that India has planted its official stamp on Homebound would be a huge advantage as far as optics are concerned, but not so much in terms of money. An official entry gets a sum of Rs 1 crore for its Oscar campaigning from the Indian government, but given the scale of campaigns that award-winning films carry out, this figure barely cuts it. Take the example of Sean Baker’s Anora, which won the Best Feature Film at this year’s Oscars — The American indie, backed by Neon, spent a whopping $18 million (Rs 160 crore) on its campaign, a figure unattainable for any Indian independent film. And this was despite the fact that Anora was a homegrown film. For an international film to make similar buzz through its campaign is far more daunting.

“Every film doesn’t lend itself to an Oscar campaign or a festival run. It is punishingly expensive, it needs relentless and widespread community activation, local award whisperers, and massive industry muscle,” says Smriti, adding, “The biggest strategy in a campaign is to understand where exactly your material stands and what it might be up against in the current scenario. I have had to walk this tightrope in many conversations.” She feels that today, the minimum requirement for a film to “even make a dent in the hemisphere” is the budget of a mid-sized commercial film in India (Rs 15 crore) and it can go very well upto even Rs 100 crore. Shruti also reveals there have been multiple indie production houses in Hollywood who have spent as much or more money on their Oscar campaigns than on their production. “Some of them have even made it to the Oscars, but a lot of them have gone bankrupt. What’s the point then?,” she asks.

MM Keeravani received the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu” from RRR at Oscars 2023.

How much RRR spent on its Oscar campaign

The one Indian film that could clinch an Oscar through its sheer marketing muscle is SS Rajamouli’s 2022 period action fantasy RRR, which won the Best Original Song honour for “Naatu Naatu.” Both DVV Entertainment and Netflix pumped an unprecedented amount of money to make the song a global pop culture phenomenon. While the official figure quoted by producer SS Karthikeya is Rs 8 crore, sources suggest that the actual figure was far higher, more than 10 times of the quoted one. In a recent roundtable of The Hollywood Reporter India, Laapataa Ladies director Kiran Rao had revealed how there were hoardings of RRR dotted across the Sunset Boulevard. Each hoarding would cost probably “10 times the budget of any of our films.”

Tanaji Dasgupta, co-owner of Kiran’s production house Kindling Films, believes the timing of the film’s release also matters. Once RRR broke out on Netflix across the globe, the streaming platform also put its might behind the film as if it was another one of its Originals. Since Homebound has just dropped on Netflix, it doesn’t really have the bandwidth to have the streaming giant co-opt its Oscar campaign. But at the same time, it enjoys the advantage of recency bias.

“Laapataa Ladies had released on Netflix in April, whereas the Oscar campaigning starts only in August. So, by that time, the film had already completed its festival round and had been covered by the US press. So, we couldn’t really get them talking about the film there once we began campaigning. With Homebound, the case is more favourable since it’s just released on Netflix. Their overseas release has also not happened completely, so there’s still interest in the film there,” argues Tanaji. He reveals he had a call with Dharma Productions, where he briefed them about their campaign experience. “I believe Kiran also met Neeraj before he left for the US. We also sought Pan Nalin’s guidance when we got selected last year, since his film Chhello Show was the previous pick. We’d be more than happy if Neeraj and Dharma can finally bring that Oscar home this time,” he adds.

Lagaan Oscar campaign vs Now

Tanaji reveals while campaigning for Laapataa Ladies, his and Kiran’s producing partner Aamir Khan shared how drastically Oscar campaigns have changed since his maiden production Lagaan made the cut in 2002. “At that time, the number of Academy voters were also far fewer. Also, you did some screenings, but the filmmaker and actors weren’t even allowed to attend them. I guess the less they knew, the better,” says Tanaji, adding, “But there are countless moving parts in an Oscar campaign today. It’s not always the best film that takes the prize, but often the one that can spend the most.”

Also Read: Neeraj Ghaywan credits the authorities for being ‘fairly cooperative’ with Homebound, says the film ‘isn’t anti establishment’

Dharma Productions continues to empty its pockets on the Homebound Oscar campaign. When SCREEN reached out to them, they declined to reveal the official campaign budget or to even partake in this story till the official Oscars shortlist is unveiled on December 16. The general consensus among those who’ve participated in campaigns in the last few years is optimism. They don’t feel bullish about Homebound’s shortlist chances as yet. It has the money, it has the substance, then where’s it lacking? A source reasons, under complete confidentiality, “What can really f*ck them over is the headline that a film backed by Martin Scorsese had a cinematographer accused of sexual assault. Yes, they did put out a statement saying they didn’t know. But then the defense is, how could you not?”