From photo clicked during Covid to 9-minute standing ovation at Cannes: Story behind Ishaan and Janhvi’s Homebound

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent lockdown led to an unprecedented situation in India. While the urban population retreated to the confines of their home, the lockdown led to a migrant crisis, with people from marginalized sections of the society returning to their villages from cities after losing their means of livelihood due to the lockdown. Five years later, the crisis has been translated for cinema- in Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 earlier this week and received a rousing response from the audience. The film, draws inspiration from a New York Times article that writer Basharat Peer wrote in July 2020 on two childhood friends from Uttar Pradesh - Mohammad Saiyub and Amrit Kumar.

A haunting image led to a NYT article

Peer’s article was based on a haunting image of two men on a highway somewhere in Madhya Pradesh. Peer had come across the blurred photo, which had Saiyub cradling his dear friend Amrit on his lap, who had collapsed in the heat while the two were making their way back from Surat, Gujarat to their village in Uttar Pradesh on foot. Peer in an interview to the portal Kashmir Life said that the image has stirred something inside him and compelled him to visit the Saiyub’s village Devari, located about thirty minutes from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

Peer said that the image was poignant to the bond the two shared.

“Friendship at the heart of the story between a Muslim and a Dalit man embodied something profound. They had not set out to represent any ideological coalition; theirs was simply a human bond, formed in their village. In today’s world, everything is reduced to categories and identities, but people remain far more complex,” Peer said.

Dharma Production adapted Peer’s story

The writer revealed that filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan discovered the article during the lockdown through Somen Mishra, head of creative development at Dharma Productions. What captivated him was the emotional core of the story: a childhood friendship tested by caste, religion, and circumstance and thus Homebound was created.

Peer revealed that while he offered informal inputs, it was Ghaywan who adapted the article cinematically and gave the characters a backstory even while keeping the real-life identity at the story’s core.

Homebound at Cannes

The film featuring Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa as childhood friends received a 9-minute long standing ovation at Cannes earlier this week. The film also features Janhvi Kapoor in a key role. Producer Karan Johar was seen giving a visibly emotional Ghaywan a warm embrace as the audience clapped.

Homeboundmarks the first time Martin Scorsese has lent his name as executive producer to a contemporary Indian film. Early reviews of the film indicate that Ghaywan has stunningly captured the human emotions amid unprecedented crisis beautifully and accurately on screen. The film is likely to release in theatres in India later this year.