Neeraj Ghyawan’s Homebound Wins Hearts With 9-Minute Standing Ovation At Cannes 2025
Indian film, Homebound, recieved a standing ovation from the audience for more than nine minutes at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival. The filmmaker, Neeraj Ghyawan, was astounded, emotional and overwhelmed with the response. He responded to the accolades by bowing to the audience and hugging his actors Ishan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. Homebound is his new feature that was selected for this year’s Un Certain Regard which is part of the Cannes Film Festival 2025.
“Coming back to Cannes, feels like I am homebound…” expressed Neeraj Ghaywan. He was back at Cannes Film Festival after a decade. He was last here with his first film Masaan which was screened at Un Certain Regard and won the FIPRESCI Award and the Avenir (the Promising Future Prize) in 2010.
“Homebound is a story of two friends, of their journey and friendship and the world around them,” informed Neeraj. It was an opinion article titled Taking Amrit Home, featured in The New York Times, written by journalist Basharat Peer that captivated Neeraj. He was attracted to the essence of the narrative, which centered on the childhood bond between two individuals – one a Muslim and the other a Dalit. “It is a universal subject that will resonate with everyone. A film which is deeply Indian in its ethos, full of compassion and is also a reflection of life that we live,” he added.
Neeraj explained that this story is deeply rooted into the rural milieu. “India is primarily an agrarian economy, with most of the population almost 60 percent living in the village. We are looking at it from an urban gaze, but telling a story that one should not forget; that of friendship and hardships and how one can face them together.”
Masaan, Neeraj’s earlier film dealt with poignant tale of love, loss, and the oppressive grip of the caste system. Set against the holy city of Varanasi, with actor Vicky Kaushal performing a job assigned to one of the lowest castes in Hindu caste hierarchy, that of cremating dead bodies along the Ganges.
Neeraj talks about the oppressed and marginalised in his latest film as well. “I can relate to it. I come from a marginalised background. I am a Dalit,” he admitted. “For many, we are invisible, a voice unheard like the people of colour but with this film, I want to bring attention to these stories of the marginalised. We don’t tell these stories enough.”
Looking back, Neeraj felt that 10 years ago, “We were not that many but thanks to Director Payal Kapadia who won the top prize last year for, All We Imagine as light at Cannes Film festival, she has broken the glass ceiling and done us proud.”
When asked about the long hiatus of returning with a story for the big screen, he said, “After Masaan, I was living in a kind of bubble of self doubt, a kind of imposter syndrome. It's a persistent feeling of self-doubt and incompetence, often experienced by high achievers, even when they have verifiable success. I have been trying to find meaning or even a story which would make sense to why I want to make a film. It took a long time to realise this. It was like a pursuit, to look for that piece that was missing.”
However, he kept himself busy. Neeraj found stories to tell, albeit on the small screen or on the OTT platform. He made a short film Juice in 2017 which won him best short film (fiction) award at the 63rd Filmfare Awards. This film explored the theme of gender inequality.
He also lend his name to some of the episodes of the popular Netflix series, Sacred Games and also directed a short film, Geeli Pucchi, which weaves together the lives of two women who share striking similarities in terms of their struggles with sexuality and unsuccessful marriages, yet starkly different in terms of caste, class, appearance, privileges, mannerisms, and life experiences as a segment of the Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans.
According to Neeraj OTT platforms have given filmmakers a new way to tell stories and experiment with their skills. “These platforms help to bring more and more interesting stories to people who are craving for novel, interesting facets of life,” said Neeraj and signed off.
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