'Homebound' weaves politics of the marginalized with the pandemic

Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound', the only Indian feature film to debut at the Cannes Film Festival this year where it received a rousing ovation on Wednesday, is an amalgam of two contemporary themes - the story of marginalized sections in modern India, enhanced as it is set during the time of Covid-19.

- Sachin Chatte

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Starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, the film's origins stem from an article by writer Basharat Peer, published in The New York Times in July 2020.

Peer was inspired by a photograph of a young man holding another man in his lap, published in a newspaper during the height of the pandemic. Peer's investigations revealed that the man in the picture was Mohammad Saiyub holding his dear friend Amrit Kumar, who had collapsed during their long walk home, from Surat to UP, when lockdown was announced in the country.

Soman Mishra, the film's producer and head of creative development, Dharma Productions, read Peer's story and pitched the idea to Karan Johar and filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan.