Homebound: Friendship and hardship in India ^{CEFR B2}

Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, examines friendship, marginalisation and the limits of modernity in India. The film is based on a New York Times report by Basharat Peer, "A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway," published in 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ghaywan, whose earlier film Masaan (2006) won global acclaim, frames the story in a quiet, naturalistic style.

The narrative opens at night as two young men travel by truck to sit a police constable exam. Chandan and Shoaib are childhood friends from a remote village who both seek a stable job, a home and dignity. Their lives are shaped by caste, religion and class: Chandan is Dalit and Shoaib is Muslim. After the results, Chandan clears the exam and refuses the caste reservation by competing in the General category, while Shoaib fails and finds work selling water filters. He endures daily humiliations — customers refusing water he touched and colleagues mocking him.

The film also shows gender discrimination at home, with Chandan’s sister denied college in favour of the boy. Motifs such as the mother’s cracked heels and Shoaib’s father’s crippled leg underline a generational burden. Visual details — local trains, cramped factory quarters — place the COVID-19 pandemic as a grim background rather than melodrama.

Performances anchor the piece and the supporting cast is strong, though Jahnvi Kapoor is noted as slightly out of step with the film’s tone. Homebound resists easy consolation: its final moments return to Shoaib, who holds on to the dream Chandan could not complete, and the film presents survival and hope without offering full closure. The film was shortlisted for an Oscar (2026).

• Vishal Jethwa
• Ishaan Khatter
• Jahnvi Kapoor