Homebound at the Oscars: India’s quiet contender in a sea of heavyweights

India’s Oscar entry Homebound has achieved a rare honour, making it to the shortlist for the Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars. Neeraj Ghaywan’s film, a powerful story on friendship, ambition, and the search for dignity during the covid phase, unfolds in a small North Indian town where the everyday and the extraordinary intertwine. It is intimate in its focus, yet universal in its emotions, drawing audiences into a world that feels familiar yet fully alive on screen.

The presence of Martin Scorsese as executive producer has brought the film international visibility, lending a certain gravitas to its Oscar campaign, but even this cannot mask the enormity of the challenge ahead. The shortlist is stacked with films that have already carved their reputations across the festival circuit, leaving Homebound to navigate a landscape dominated by films that combine both critical acclaim and international momentum. Discussing the film’s chances at the Oscars, Neeraj told the BBC that he had spoken to filmmaker Payal Kapadia. “She told me that whatever you hear about how difficult an Oscar campaign is, the reality is even tougher,” he said.

From its very first screening, Brazil’s The Secret Agent has made a mark that is impossible to ignore. Kleber Mendonca Filho’s political thriller premiered at Cannes 2025 to standing ovations and multiple awards, including Best Director and Best Actor. Its tension-laden narrative and meticulous technical craft immediately positioned it as a festival favourite, and its resonance with both audiences and critics has carried forward into awards season. For Homebound, this serves as a reminder that in Oscar calculations, visibility and buzz often outweigh subtlety and nuance. Where Homebound treads lightly in its emotional storytelling, The Secret Agent asserts itself forcefully, claiming attention before voters even enter the voting booth.

France’s It Was Just an Accident presents a similarly daunting obstacle. Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning film is a masterclass in restrained storytelling, chronicling ordinary lives under extraordinary pressures. Its triumph at Cannes brought international critical recognition, and its courage in addressing political and social realities gives it a narrative edge that voters are often drawn to. Panahi’s work has the rare combination of artistic respect and moral weight, which tends to translate into sustained awards season momentum. In comparison, Homebound, despite its emotional resonance and human insight, remains quieter, less visible to the global cinema conversation in ways that can matter immensely when the Academy votes.

Norway’s Sentimental Value and South Korea’s No Other Choice add further complexity to the field. Sentimental Value, with its reflective exploration of family and memory, captured the Grand Prix at Cannes and has been embraced by critics across Europe for its subtlety and aesthetic restraint. Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, meanwhile, combines biting social critique with darkly comic undertones, earning accolades at Toronto and establishing itself as a film that is both critically lauded and widely discussed. The Academy often rewards films that balance technical brilliance with emotional depth, and both of these works have the advantage of accumulated attention.

The Tunisian entry, The Voice of Hind Rajab, is perhaps the most striking example of international recognition this season. Its harrowing story of a young girl navigating the conflict in Gaza won a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation at Venice, leaving a lasting impression on critics and audiences alike. It is the kind of emotional intensity combined with festival prestige that the Academy often finds irresistible. For Homebound, which achieves impact through subtlety rather than spectacle, this underscores the difficult terrain it must traverse; its quiet power, while genuine and affecting, is competing against films whose global presence has already been cemented.

Even with these obstacles, Homebound demonstrates why Indian cinema continues to claim a place on the global stage. The film’s strength lies not in spectacle, but in observation and emotional authenticity. Its characters breathe, stumble, and persevere in ways that feel true to life, and the universality of their struggles gives the film resonance beyond language or geography. Martin Scorsese’s association has opened doors, drawing attention that might otherwise have been limited, yet it is the film’s intrinsic humanity that remains its core appeal.

Speaking further in the BBC interview, Neeraj described the film’s association with Martin Scorsese as sheer good luck. “He came in at the script level, gave us feedback, helped with the edit, and did it all without any expectations,” he said. That this story, rooted in a small Indian town, can sit alongside The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value, No Other Choice, and The Voice of Hind Rajab on a shortlist for the Oscars is in itself a testament to its quality.

The reality, however, is unflinching. Awards, and the Oscars in particular, are as much about momentum as they are about merit. The international recognition, festival accolades, and critical conversations surrounding the other shortlisted films place them in positions of advantage.

While Homebound has captured the imagination of those who have seen it, the Academy’s broader voting body is more likely to gravitate toward films that have already dominated the global conversation. There is a bittersweet tension in this recognition: pride in the achievement of making the shortlist, tempered by the awareness that nomination may ultimately remain out of reach.

Yet even if Homebound does not make the final five, its journey is significant. It has shown that Indian stories, told with honesty, care, and emotional precision, can engage audiences around the world. Its presence on the shortlist elevates the conversation about what Indian cinema can achieve, and its human-centered storytelling ensures that it will be remembered beyond the immediate awards cycle.

In a year dominated by international heavyweights, Homebound may not secure a nomination, but it has already won something arguably more important: it has reminded the world that the quiet, deeply human stories of India deserve to be seen, respected, and celebrated.