Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound, led by Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, is India's official entry for the Oscars 2026.
At the NDTV World Summit 2025 session titled Ishaan Khatter: Fierce, Fearless, Free, the actor opened up about what makes Homebound an extremely special film and the first thing he would do if Homebound wins an Oscar.
The actor said, "I have an aching suspicion that I might throw my jacket and run into a wall."
On Homebound Receiving A 9-Minute Standing Ovation At Cannes
The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section before travelling to the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year. It is now India's official entry for the Oscars 2026.
Speaking about the reaction of the audience, Ishaan Khatter shared, "This is a film that is extremely special to me, and at the risk of sounding shameless, I'm thankful to everyone who has championed it. It's a rare kind of film, very humane, and I'm very proud of it. It's been surreal, a milestone to be sitting in an audience like that at Cannes - it's overwhelming, understandably; time was warped for me; it was all very surreal."
On His Character Shoaib In Homebound
Ishaan Khatter opened up about how his character Shoaib represents 80% of "our country."
He said, "The only point of access was understanding the emotional strife. It is a character that's quite at a distance from me. We're actors - 0.1% of the country - and this is a character that makes up 80% of our country, but we barely see them in cinema. We had to walk towards the character. Neeraj Ghaywan, the director, made it very clear to us: craft is not just what I want; we need you to become the character."
Furthermore, the actor revealed that they stayed in villages and interacted with the people. Calling their generosity "unimaginable", he spoke about how the team bonded and described it as an experience that was simply flowing.
