Director and producer Karan Johar took to social media on Wednesday to express his happiness after it was announced that his production Homebound has been shortlisted in the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards.
Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, the film stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor.
Karan shared a screenshot of a writeup which shows a list of 15 films, including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident and Park Chan-Wook’s No Other Choice, which have been shortlisted for the nominations. Homebound is also one of them. “I am not sure I can articulate how proud, elated and over the moon I am with the journey of #HOMEBOUND… all of us @dharmamovies are privileged to have this proud and important film in our filmography.”
He also expressed gratitude towards the film’s director Neeraj Ghaywan. “Thank you @neeraj.ghaywan for making so many dreams of ours come true… from Cannes to being on the Oscar shortlist this has been such an overwhelming journey! Love to the entire cast and crew and teams of this special special film!!!!!!!!! Upwards and onwards…….. #HOMEBOUND streaming now on @netflix_in.”
The film’s cast also shared their reactions after receiving the happy news. In a press statement, Vishal said, “This moment feels surreal and incredibly humbling. To see Homebound being shortlisted and progressing towards the Oscars is something I could have only dreamed of. I am deeply grateful for the love and support the film has received from audiences around the world. I want to sincerely thank Karan Johar sir for believing in this story and in us as artists his vision and backing gave Homebound the wings it needed.”
“Neeraj Ghaywan sir’s sensitivity, honesty, and clarity as a filmmaker pushed me to explore emotional depths I had never touched before. Working under his direction has been nothing short of transformative. I also want to thank Ishaan Khatter, whose passion and commitment elevated every scene, we learned so much from each other on this journey. This recognition belongs to the entire team that poured their heart and soul into the film,” he added.
Ishaan shared the development on his Instagram stories with a heart emoji while Janhvi shared various posts of other people congratulating the Homebound team for the achievement.
Inspired from Basharat Peer’s 2020 New York Times article ‘A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside The Highway’’, Homebound tells the story of two youngsters (Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa) whose friendship faces a major threat as only one of them lands a police job. The film explores themes of caste- and religion-based discrimination and the harsh realities of the working class in and around the Covid-19 period.
The film released in theatres in September. It is currently streaming on Netflix.
