‘People are asking why we have cast Janhvi Kapoor as a Dalit girl,’ says Neeraj Ghaywan: ‘In India, there are all kinds of people’

Prior to theatrical release in India, Homebound also screened at film festivals in Cannes, Melbourne, and Toronto. “Personally, for me, the film returning to India is the biggest thing. It can’t be matched with anything else. We are so eager to see how everyone sees it here. We have made this film for our people with absolute integrity and authenticity. I hope people appreciate it,” added Ghaywan.

Homebound is based on Basharat Peer’s account in The New York Times of two friends navigating the migrant crisis during the coronavirus lockdown. It stars Ishaan Khatter as a Muslim and Vishal Jethwa as a closeted Dalit, both of whom aspire to be police officers. “Bashrat’s article is actually the climax of this film. In the story before that, I’ve incorporated parts of my life into the film. I was living as an upper caste member for years, before I finally came out and claimed my Dalit identity,” said Neeraj Ghaywan, drawing a parallel between his own journey to that of Vishal’s character in Homebound.

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At the event, Ishaan confessed he wanted to work with Ghaywan since the latter’s 2015 directorial debut Masaan. “I watched Masaan when I wasn’t even an actor. At that time, I thought it’d be great if I can be a part of a Neeraj Ghaywan film someday. I didn’t imagine that would be his sophomore feature,” said Ishaan.

It took 10 years for Neeraj Ghaywan to make his second feature. He’s been busy directing episodes of Made in Heaven season 2 and Sacred Games season 2 in 2019, and two critically acclaimed short films — Juice (2017) and Geeli Puchi in the 2021 anthology Ajeeb Daastaans, which was also produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. “I wanted to do something that makes me want to get up from the bed and scream that I want to do it. It’s not, as people would imagine, an aspiration for greatness. It just has to move me. It has to make me feel like a part of the larger conscience that’s beyond our existence. The aim was to add to that in any way,” said Ghaywan, who travelled the country with Basharat Peer, just like how Ishaan and Vishal’s characters go on a journey in the film.

As far as the casting was concerned, Ghaywan pulled off a casting coup by roping in Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor, whose 2018 debut film, Shashank Khaitan’s Dhadak, a remake of Nagraj Manjule’s 2016 seminal Marathi film Sairat, was panned by critics for its tepid take on caste. “There’s a certain perception we have about the lower castes. For instance, to not cast light-skinned actors. A lot of people are asking why cast Janhvi Kapoor as a Dalit? But why not? In India, all kinds of people exist. The idea is to be inclusive and empathetic,” remarked Ghaywan.

The director agreed that while the story comes first, casting stars is not inconsequential. “Ishaan, Vishal, and Janhvi are talented as well as popular. They’ll enable the film to reach the audience it’s really intended for,” said Ghaywan. He hopes that after watching the movie, people in India open themselves to empathy and start by asking the name of the garbage collector of their locality instead of invisibiliizing him.

Working with the director helped Vishal Jethwa overcome his own insecurity of feeling ostracised in a city and an industry where everyone speaks English. “I felt that if I can’t speak English, I won’t be accepted. But the problem was that I hadn’t accepted myself. Neeraj sir told me that the very fact that I couldn’t speak English has contributed to where I am today, why I’m in this film. So he made me accept that about myself,” said Vishal.

Ishaan Khatter complimented Vishal and said, “Vishal has managed to face thousands of people in Cannes and Toronto and talk about his feelings in his native language, in Hindi, instead of English. And they’ve all embraced that. Just like the film. With Homebound, we’ve made a very rooted, Indian film. It’s not tailored for the rest of the world. Subtitles can take care of that. But baat mein dum honi chahiye.”

He recalled how being on a Neeraj Ghaywan set is like entering a safe space of inclusivity and empathy. “There’s genuinely no hierarchy on his set. He dismantles that first. There’s no light dada or spot dada. He asks you to address them by their names. Everybody is an equal contributor to the film. He knows very well the kind of film he wants to make, but he listens to everybody. That’s a very rare quality. He practices what he preaches,” said Ishaan.

He also recalled the advice of his first director, Majid Majidi of Beyond The Clouds (2017). “I know you want to be a good actor, but be a good human first. Whatever you want, you’ll get it from there. Working with Neeraj bhai was very reassuring that you don’t have to be a maglomaniac to be successful in this industry.

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Ishaan pointed out another similarity between his experiences on Beyond the Clouds and Homebound — the use of music. “When I got my first paycheck, I bought a speaker that I used to keep in my van during Beyond the Clouds shoot. Music helps emotions to surface really smoothly. So, I use music a lot, and so does Neeraj bhai,” said Ishaan.

Neeraj Ghaywan revealed that the song he’d play while writing or to get his actors into the mood was “Raah Pe Rahte Hain” from Gulzar’s 1982 social drama Namkeen. “It’s influenced me for years, and has been a source of inspiration for the whole film. I used to start writing every day at 4 am, but whenever I hit a roadblock, I’d listen to this song,” said Ghaywan.

As the event drew to a close, Ghaywan was asked what message he wanted Indian audiences to take from Homebound after it releases this week. Ghaywan couldn’t help but quote Gulzar again: “Pyaar ko pyaar hi rehne do, koi naam na do.”