It was a dream come true for director Neeraj Ghaywan as veteran filmmaker and his film Homebound’s executive producer, Martin Scorsese, hosted a screening for the movie in New York on Saturday. Neeraj also got to sit with Scorsese for a QnA post the screening, an event he described as the “highest point in my career in cinema.”
The Masaan (2015) director took to Instagram on Saturday to share some pictures with Scorsese and in the caption described how the celebrated filmmaker put him at ease. “I was obviously nervous and sweating about doing a QnA with the master. Mr. Scorsese saw that in the green room. He narrated a funny anecdote about how he was mistaken by the cops to be the hillside strangler. He did that because he wanted to calm me down without even me being aware of it,” wrote Neeraj. “That’s the generous selfless master that he is. I don’t know what future holds for this film but this right here is the biggest award for me.”
Homebound’s producer Somen Mishra also couldn’t help but fanboy over Scorsese. Taking to his Instagram he wrote, “I came back to the hotel and searched if there's a word that captures the expressions and emotions of meeting your cinema God, @martinscorsese… A bit of nervousness, too much excitement, pretending to be all cool, with some palpitations, wiping sweaty hands, and then within few minutes he makes the room so warm with his presence, stories, and funny anecdotes.”
“And he spoke so warmly about our film, Homebound. How much he had read, notes he had made, the edits he had seen. Came out for an event today and did the QnA with @neeraj.ghaywan I don't know how Neeraj remained so calm,” he added. “I mean you don't expect cinema Gods to be so cool, so funny, so warm, so nice. Unbelievably charming.”
The film's screening was also attended by Mira Nair, Padma Laksmi, Kal Penn and Siddharth, among others.
Homebound is inspired by journalist Basharat Peer’s 2020 New York Times article “Taking Amrit Home.” The film has been selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars.
