'It's essential to talk about what the youth are going through'

In the summer of 2015 at the French Riviera, Neeraj Ghaywan stood on the stage at the famous Debussy Theatre venue of the Cannes Film Festival receiving the Promising Future Prize for his debut film, Masaan, an anti-caste drama set in the holy city of Varanasi.

- • INTERVIEW: NEERAJ GHAYWAN, FILMMAKER

Now, exactly a decade later, the Mumbai-based filmmaker is chasing Oscar glory with his sophomore feature, Homebound, set in the Hindi heartland and probing the catastrophic impact of caste and social prejudices on the young people. Continuing its dream run on the international film festival circuit following the world premiere in Cannes, Homebound, India's official entry to the Best International Feature Film Oscar Award, drew a huge audience at the 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival (November 28-December 6) in Morocco where it was part of the event's gala presentation programme.Ghaywan talked with Faizal Khan at the Marrakech film festival about the remarkable response to Indian films at major international film festivals abroad today, the new generation of filmmakers across the country who are not afraid to take on taboo subjects, and the Oscar campaign for Homebound, among others. Excerpts from an interview:

In recent years in Indian cinema, we are witnessing the new generation of Indian filmmakers who are not afraid to take on taboo subjects like the anti-caste topic in both your films, Masaan and Homebound. Your comment.