‘Homebound’: Hits home, Oscar or not, it’s a winner

For those of us who survived Covid-19, the epidemic is today only a bad memory. For millions who suffered indignities first-hand, the grave tragedy has been buried in numbers and figures. What those screaming headlines could not touch within our hearts, today reaches us as ‘Homebound’ leaps on to the big screen.

In the hands of an acclaimed director, ‘Masaan’ fame Neeraj Ghaywan, those harrowing times acquire face, body and soul. Based on a New York Times essay by Basharat Peer, who is also one of the co-writers of the film, it’s a throbbing and heartrending account of two young boys, as much a microcosm as a whole.

Before the title ‘Homebound’ assumes meaning, the makers, Dharma Productions, and executive producer Martin Scorsese take us into the lives of Mohammed Shoaib Ali (Ishaan Khatter) and Chandan Kumar (Vishal Jethwa). At first glance itself, we are made to realise they are part of the bheed in an overcrowded railway station. This is the marginalised India but also aspirational. Both friends are en route to an exam for the post of constable, which in India is no mean task what with millions of applicants for a few hundred vacancies.

Expectedly, the lived reality of those on the margins is never rosy. Simple dreams like finding a government job at the lowest rung or having a house that doesn’t leak or ensuring an operation for an ailing father are impossible pursuits for the impoverished. The ‘othering’ of Muslims, the distressing ‘outcasting’ of Dalits pulsate with a sharp cutting edge that shows us the mirror, the blinkers we the civilised wear. What sets Ghaywan’s vision apart is that this isn’t a sob story, but a human one.

The friendship between the two leads has its moments of joy, courage and heartfelt bonding. In fact, the writers and director do a fine balancing act. Humanity is not completely dead in an otherwise insular society. For every few bad men, there is one with a conscience. But that is a drop in the vast ocean whose tides invariably turn against the dispossessed.

The mean digs made at an official dinner after an Indo-Pak cricket match is a potently telling and clever ploy. The insinuations by the educated men lay bare our deep prejudices against Muslims in general. And, we all know how even celebrity cricketers are not spared if their religion does not match those of the majority.

Yes, certain interjections seem imposed to draw our attention to societal fissures, but the overall flow remains organic. It never interferes with the authenticity quotient. The makers do not cut any corners as far as genuine-ness goes. Scenes in the textile factory or in the village or in the company where Shoaib works seem straight out of real life.

Camera work by Pratik Shah lends this social yet intimate portrait an aesthetic feel too. Music by Amit Trivedi adds to the poignancy of Ghaywan’s reality, which stings and touches simultaneously.

The narrative does not make you shed buckets of tears but pierces through your heart. Ghaywan’s casting choices make his job easy. Ishaan Khatter as Shoaib is superlative; in moments where his angst simmers before touching a boiling point or when he is a diffident young boy looking for his “hisse ki dhoop” in a deeply divided India. Your heart goes out for him when he breaks down in the face of struggles.

Vishal Jethwa, too, aces it all. He is incredibly adept at baring the insecurities and frailties of a Dalit who refuses to tick the reserved category box for fear of even more discrimination. His Chandan brings us face to face with an India we the privileged don’t even know exists, or choose to overlook.

The supporting cast, especially Shalini Vatsa as Chandan’s mother and Harshika Parmar as his sister, is truly believable.

And then the Covid chapter is dealt with all the sensitivity and insensitivity that marked our behaviour during the traumatic period. For thousands who walked back home during this turbulent phase, it was not a battle between life and death but of sheer existence. In this dismal world, Janhvi Kapoor’s de-glam Sudha provides a counterpoint of ambition. In the face of centuries of caste oppression, she knows education holds the key to empowerment. Not all have that privilege but Sudha shows the way. Refusing steadfastly to encash upon Janhvi’s star status, even the love angle is not on predictable lines. Yes, a few turning points are not difficult to foresee, but Ghaywan still manages to imbue urgency.

Whether festival favourite ‘Homebound’, India’s official entry to Oscars, will finally get us the coveted Best Film Oscar or not, the film’s selection itself is a victory. For all the wrongs we the people of India and the government stand guilty of, this one move cannot possibly undo the injustice meted out to huge chunks of society. But, ‘Homebound’s representation of Indian cinema on the global stage is certainly a step in the right direction.

Unmissable for all the right reasons, this toast of many prestigious film festivals like Cannes and TIFF is neither slow nor unmoving. An impactful film, it is much more than just a rude reminder of how a simple wish of returning home became a Herculean mission for those on the other side of the dividing line. Not a face-off, but face to face with a pulsating real India, warts and strengths included.