Why 'Homebound' is India’s best shot at an Oscar in the New Year

Neeraj Ghaywan's award-winning credentials and Martin Scorsese's strong backing could turn the tide for Indian cinema at the 2026 Academy Awards.

There is a strong possibility that 'Homebound' in the coming New Year would do what 'Lagaan' didn't more than two decades ago.

'Homebound' is a potential nominee and winner for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

'Homebound', independent filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan's sophomore feature, landed a place on the shortlist for Best International Feature Film announced early Wednesday, following a feverish campaign in the United States in the run-up to the Oscar vote.

The Hindi language film, which continues Ghaywan's exploration of social prejudices through the eyes of the country's youth, becomes only the first Indian film to make the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film).

When Ashutosh Gawariker's 'Lagaan' won the nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002, the Oscar shortlist, first introduced in 2018, didn't exist. The only other Indian films to earn Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film are Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' in 1957 and Mira Nair's 'Salaam Bombay! in 1988.

No Indian film, however, has gone beyond the nomination stage in the Best International Feature Film Oscar category so far.

Homebound is India's entry for Oscars

Ghaywan's 'Homebound', which stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, could reverse the trend of India's official entry to the Oscars falling woefully short in the past nearly two-and-half decades.

There were huge expectations of critically-acclaimed Marathi legal drama 'Court' directed by Chaitanya Tamhane winning a place on the five-film Oscar nominations list in 2015. But that didn't happen despite the film's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and Tamhane winning two awards in Italy, Best Debut and Best Film in the Orizzonti category.

There haven't been such huge expectations built on India's official entry to the Oscars, often muddled in controversies, since then. Until now.

'Homebound', which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year, swiftly generated enthusiasm among India's film lovers following its selection as India's official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

Hyderabad-born Ghaywan, who belongs to a Marathi Dalit family, a facet the filmmaker strongly avows and projects in his films, professes proven credentials as an award-winning director.

Ghaywan's debut feature film, 'Masaan', set in the holy city of Varanasi, won two prizes in Cannes in 2015---Promising Future prize and the International Critics' Prize in Un Certain Regard category for fresh voices in world cinema.

Unlike other Indian official entries before, 'Homebound' is driven by an Oscar campaign on steroids, managed by its major producer, Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions.

All about the campaign for Oscars

A corporate-run campaign helmed by Johar is currently aided by American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who came on board as executive producer of 'Homebound' and mentor of Ghaywan during pre-production.

Scorsese, whose backing can sway Oscar voters because of his towering stature in the American film industry and a tonne of Oscar wins and nominations for his films, has had a huge impact on the campaign of 'Homebound' in the run-up to the Oscar shortlist.

"Martin Scorsese hosted a Q&A with me in New York," says Ghaywan about the production team's Oscar campaign in the United States in November-December.

"We did a couple of screenings in New York, and then we did a lot of screenings in Los Angeles for over a month," he adds.

Ghaywan describes Johar as "a rock" to the film. Johar's production and Scorsese joining in as executive producer and mentor, he says, are "a new thing" in Indian cinema. "This sort of certainty hasn't happened before. It means a lot for our cinema as well," he says.

Johar and Scorsese especially, will have a lot of say in the next phase of the film's campaign before the nominations are announced next month. The Best International Feature Film shortlist on December 16 will be followed by the nominations - five films - on January 22. The 2026 Oscar awards ceremony will take place on March 15.

The 15-film shortlist offers plenty of hope for 'Homebound'. The presence of three films on the shortlist with Palestine as a subject could lead to possible nomination for only one, the strong favourite being the Tunisian entry, 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' by Kaouther Ben Hania, who has one Best International Feature Film nomination ('The Man Who Sold His Skin' in 2021) along with a Best Documentary Feature nomination for 'Four Daughters' in 2024, before.

Three more films -- Brazil's entry, 'The Secret Agent', Spain's 'Sirât' and Iraq's 'The President’s Cake' -- have earned top honours at major international film festivals to claim a spot on the shortlist.

Backed by a serious campaign, 'Homebound' could complete the five-film shortlist on January 22.

If that happens, a strong story set in the Hindi heartland and powerful narrative about the dreams of Indian youth could propel 'Homebound' to the finish line, creating history for Indian cinema in 2026.