Vishal Jethwa and Ishaan Khatter Are The Beating Heart Of Neeraj Ghaywan’s 'Homebound': Review
- Vivek Anand
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
Days after watching Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, one image refuses to leave me: Chandan’s mother, holding her new chappals in her hand, her face etched with a mix of despair, endurance and pain. It lingers like an aftertaste of grief, reminding us that this film cannot be easily forgotten.
At its core, Homebound is the story of friendship and survival. Chandan (Vishal Jehtwa), a Dalit, and Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter), a Muslim, grew up as inseparable friends, united by dreams of securing police jobs, craving the dignity and respect their identities have long denied them.
Their world opens a little wider when Sudha (Janhvi Kapoor), a Dalit woman and fellow aspirant, enters their circle. However, their aspirations collide with the harsh reality, and their friendship is challenged by a system that does not bend, a society that refuses to let them forget who they are.
'Homebound Forces Us To Confront Our Privilege'
When their studies give way to grinding labour in Surat’s textile mills, and the sudden paralysis of the pandemic lockdown leaves them stranded, the journey home becomes not just a test of endurance, but a reckoning with identity and belonging
Homebound does not merely tell a story; it forces us to confront our own privilege. It compels us to acknowledge the invisible safety nets some of us enjoy — nets denied to countless others for whom marginalisation is not an exception but a way of life.
What makes Homebound powerful is that it is not limited to caste or religion alone. It becomes a statement on marginalisation itself — the many ways in which exclusion operates to deny individuals their rightful place in their surroundings, their communities, and their society.
This human distancing erases the possibility of small, shared spaces where coexistence might have been possible.
Neeraj Ghaywaan Refuses To Let Us Look Away
Neeraj Ghaywaan speaks from the heart. In comparison, Neeraj’s first film, Masaan, was a poem — lyrical in its treatment of pain, longing, and suffering. Homebound, by contrast, is a blow to the gut. It is a hard-hitting reality rendered with devastating clarity, refusing to let us look away.
The film not only highlights flaws in the system but also exposes deep-rooted patriarchy: Chandan’s sister cannot pursue education because the family can only afford to send him to school. One wishes her character had been written with more agency, rather than becoming another casualty of the very marginalisation the film critiques.
The friendship of Chandan and Shoaib is the backbone of this story, and every character in the film has a unique voice. Janhvi Kapoor gives Sudha a believable presence who complements the friendship trio.
A Homecoming
Yet the film essentially belongs to Vishal Jethwa and Ishaan Khatter, who inhabit Chandan and Shoaib with raw, unflinching honesty. Their performances are the film’s beating heart, supported powerfully by every character whose struggles and silences add depth to the narrative—a big shout-out to Shalini Vatsa, who plays Chandan's mother, Phool Kumari.
When we see Shoaib lugging his best friend on his back, trying desperately to reach home, the COVID lockdown becomes a metaphor for exclusion itself.
And yet, there is resolution. Chandan’s homecoming is marked by his acceptance of his identity as a Dalit, while Shoaib returns to education — echoing Ambedkar’s call to educate, agitate, and organise. Homebound is not just literal, but also figurative, representing a symbolic homecoming for both friends.
And perhaps that is why Chandan’s mother haunts me still. She is not just a character. She is a mirror, a wound, and a truth.
Homebound is adapted and inspired by journalist Basharat Peers' feature article in the July 31st, 2020, New York Times titled ‘Taking Amrit Home’
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