Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound Received 9-Minute Standing Ovation At Cannes 2025, Here's The Plot

Karan Johar's home production and Neeraj Ghaywan's movie, Homebound, recently received a 9-minute long standing ovation at Cannes 2025. The movie features, Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter, and Vishal Jethwa in the lead roles. Homebound is a movie about friendship, and the fact that it made its way to Cannes, and received a nine-minute-long standing ovation, one can easily understand the potential it has. So, as KJo turned all teary-eyed at Cannes for the applause for Homebound, let's have a look at the movie's strong plot.

The plot of Neeraj Ghaywan's movie, Homebound

Neeraj Ghaywan's movie, Homebound is about the friendship between two boys from a marginalised community. Ishaan Khatter played the role of 'Mohammed Shoaib Ali', and Vishal Jethwa essayed the role of 'Chandan Kumar' in the movie. The story is about their friendship and their dream to have a job as a police constable, as they feel that this would provide them with the dignity they were denied.

Meanwhile, 'Chandan' met 'Sudha Bharti', Janhvi Kapoor in the film, who asked him to pursue studies instead. 'Mohammed Shoaib Ali', on the other hand, found himself in the midst of financial struggles. Their respective struggles made them confront each other about how the system failed them. 'Mohammed Shoaib Ali' and 'Chandan Kumar's friendship stood as a testament to humanity and compassion.

Neeraj Ghaywan's movie, Homebound deals with a sensitive topic, but the core message is about friendship

Although the movie deals with the sensitive topic of caste and religion in India, the core message and the plot revolve around the 'friendship between two men'. KJo told Variety that there's no villain in the movie, and the fact that we all know that we live in the grey. He further said that Neeraj made the characters operate more from the grey part, which made the movie striking. Neeraj was given the full freedom to do whatever he wanted to, as Karan Johar had trust in him, given that the plot came from somewhere deep in his heart.

The director, Neeraj Ghaywan, who himself is from a marginalised community said to Variety that his intent was not to villanise anyone, but all he wanted to do was to, through the film, he wished to sit with the opposite party and send a message to them in an empathic tone that what might have happened in someone's life. In Neeraj's words:

"My intent with this film is not to villainise but to speak to the other side with empathy as well. I want to hold their hand, make them sit next to me and say, ‘Hey, look at this. This is what happened in this person’s life. Do you want to rethink about what’s going on?'”

Why were Janhvi Kapoor, Vishal Jethwa, and Ishaan Khatter selected for this special movie?

When it came to the cast selection, the team was very insistent about what they wanted. While a lot of people auditioned for the part of 'Chandan Kumar', it was Vishal, who was selected due to the tenderness he had. To spend just a few days with Neeraj became therapeutic for Janhvi Kapoor, as she felt that she had healed from within. Neeraj gave Janhvi Ambedkar’s ‘Annihilation of Caste’ to read, as she started questioning her privileges. On the other hand, KJo complimented Ishaan as a chameleon.

Homebound got a standing ovation at the Cannes 2025

For the unversed, Homebound premiered at Cannes 2025 on May 21, 2025, and the movie received a 9-minute-long standing ovation. Homebound premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes, and the entire team was present there. Karan Johar was seen being emotional and hugging the director as the movie received a standing ovation. For the unversed, American filmmaker, Martin Scorsese is the executive producer of the movie.

What do you think about the plot of the movie, Homebound?

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