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Read the screenplay twice; he had very genuine feedback and points to tell me.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

Neeraj Ghaywan's second feature film, Homebound, premiered on Wednesday, May 21, in the official Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. It marks a return to feature filmmaking for Ghaywan after a decade and also a comeback to Un Certain Regard in as many years. His debut feature Masaan played in the same section at Cannes 2015 and won the FIPRESCI Critics Prize and the Promising Future prize.

Homebound is backed by a mainstream studio, Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, and features young stars like Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, and Vishal Jethwa in the lead roles. Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese has boarded the film as executive producer.

Rooted in the real, it is based on Basharat Peer's article 'Taking Amrit Home', published in The New York Times. Days before the Cannes premiere and the overwhelming media attention that comes with it, we caught up with Ghaywan and Johar for a relaxed, extensive conversation.

Excerpts:

Neeraj, why did it take a decade to make your second feature film after Masaan?

There's this imposter syndrome. I think every filmmaker goes through that self-doubt. In my case, it was accentuated a lot with my first time at Cannes with Masaan. It got triggered during the applause that I got for it. Since then I've been trying to find meaning in a meaningless world. During this time, I did make a couple of shorts like Geeli Puchhi and Juice, and worked in Made in Heaven and