Neeraj Ghaywan and the team of Homebound are on cloud nine ever since the announcement regarding their film heading to Oscars as India's official entry in the Best International Feature category came on Friday. The film has been making waves across film festivals worldwide for its moving story and performances from leads Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor and is scheduled for release in Indian theatres on September 26.
Ghaywan recently shared the film's trailer with audiences worldwide which gave a glimpse of the story that follows two childhood friends played by Ishaan and Vishal. But what the caught the attention of social media users was the omission of cinematographer Pratik Shah's name in the credits of his post amid reports of his inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment allegations.
The cinematographer, who has worked on high profile projects like Jubilee (2023), CTRL (2024) and Homebound, was accused of being “highly manipulative” and “emotionally abusive” by independent filmmaker Abhinav Singh in May this year, who stated that his allegations are based on the testimonies of multiple women. Later, Dharma Productions, which had backed the film, in a statement, stated that they have a zero tolerance policy against inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment towards any individual. "Mr. Pratik Shah was a freelancer on the project Homebound and was working on it for a limited period. His engagement with us has been completed. During this limited period, our internal committee for POSH didn’t receive any complaints against him from any cast or crew on our film,” they said. The ripples followed with him being reportedly removed from Sourav Ganguly biopic, helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane as well.
Despite these turbulences, Homebound has been having its dream run during its festival run and is receiving praise globally. The film is executive produced by Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese. The official synopsis of the film reads: "Two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they've long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together." The film promises to tackle themes of religious prejudice and caste bias in its story.
Based on a New York Times article by Basharat Peer from 2020, the film features music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Varun Grover. It had its world premiere earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival and won the International People’s Choice Award as the second runner-up at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025 recently.