FOR THE BOY LEFT BEHIND

HOW HOMEBOUND, THE CRITICAL HIT ABOUT THE LIVES OF TWO MIGRANT LABOURERS WHO FACED THE COVID PANDEMIC TOGETHER, CAME INTO BEING

- By Suhani Singh

It all started with an image that went viral at the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown in May 2020. In its stillness was the implied journey of a thousand miles. Mohammad Saiyub, a factory worker from Basti, Uttar Pradesh, was cradling his friend Amrit Kumar on the side of a highway. The latter's eyes were closed and he had just collapsed from a heatstroke—they were two of the tens of millions of interstate migrant labourers across India forced to walk home after the lockdown's sudden announcement left daily wagers in the lurch without any provisions for their journey home. Only Saiyub would make it to Basti alive, his friend a victim of the chaos and state-led apathy the country was plunged into.

Journalist and author Basharat Peer came across their photo and was struck by its emotional potency. He tracked Saiyub down and discovered a moving story about a bond between two young men on the fringes—one a Muslim, the other a Dalit, both of whom worked in factories in Surat. Peer's longform piece 'A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway' appeared in The New York Times and immediately caught the eye of Somen Mishra, head of creative development at Dharma Productions. He turned to friend and filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan to discuss a possible screen adaptation—“it had a caste angle, a strong humanist lens and a friendship story,” he said, one which he felt Hindi cinema hadn't seen in a long time. Ghaywan, who disclosed his Dalit identity in the aftermath of his acclaimed directorial debut, Masaan, was on board. Mishra signed on as producer and Dharma head honcho Karan Johar joined the team.