New Delhi: The highly praised film “Homebound” by director Neeraj Ghaywan has been chosen as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature category at the 2026 Academy Awards. The announcement is a big deal for the movie, which has already won awards at some of the most renowned film festivals across the world.
Dharma Productions made “Homebound,” which stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor. The movie initially showed at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. At the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it did quite well and came in second for the prestigious International People’s Choice Award.
Both Neeraj Ghaywan, the director, and Karan Johar, the producer, said they were excited and thankful that their work was chosen. Karan Johar commented, “We are deeply honored and humbled.” He went on to say that “Homebound” is a “labour of love” that would “surely find a home in a million hearts across the world.”
Ghaywan agreed, saying, “I’m very honored that ‘Homebound’ has been chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars.” It comes from our love for our land and our people, and it embodies the spirit of the home we all share. He said that being able to represent India on the world stage was “both humbling and a matter of pride.”
Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra are the producers of the movie, and Martin Scorsese is the executive producer. It has already gotten a lot of attention throughout the world. The fact that it got a standing ovation at TIFF shows that Indian movies are becoming more popular around the world. Other Indian movies that were shown at TIFF 2025 were “Bandar” by Anurag Kashyap, “Vimukt/In Search of The Sky” by Jitank Singh Gurjar, and “Bayaan,” which starred Huma Qureshi.
The much awaited release of “Homebound” in theaters in India is set on September 26, 2025.