Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound has won the International People’s Choice Award as the second runner-up at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025. The International People's Choice award was won by acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s satirical black comedy thriller No Other Choice, and the first runner-up went to Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value.
Taking to X to make the announcement, Neeraj wrote, “Thrilled to announce that our film #HOMEBOUND just won the @TIFF_NET. International People’s Choice Award as a second runner-up!! In the company of Park Chan Wook and Joachim Trier! Phew!”
Apart from Homebound, Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar, Jitank Singh Gurjar’s Vimukt/In Search of The Sky, Hansal Mehta’s Gandhi and Huma Qureshi’s Baayan had their premieres at the TIFF this year.
Written and directed by Neeraj, Homebound stars Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor and Vishal Jethwa in the lead. The film marks the long-awaited return of Neeraj to the big screen after the critically-acclaimed Masaan which came out in 2014. Homebound follows two childhood friends from northern India who aspire to become police officers to escape their circumstances. But as their dream starts to become a reality, their friendship begins to falter.
It is inspired from a New York Times article written by Basharat Peer, who is credited for the film's story along with Neeraj Ghaywan and Sumit Roy. It features dialogues by Neeraj, Varun Grover and Neeraj Dubey.
Homebound has been produced by Karan, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra, with Marijke deSouza and Melita Toscan Du Plantier as co-producers. It has also secured French distribution through Ad Vitam, the acclaimed distributor behind celebrated international films, including Oscar-winners A Fantastic Woman (2017) and Son of Saul (2015), which also won the Grand Prix at Cannes.
The film will have its theatrical release on September 26.
