Two childhood friends from a village in North India are desperate to join the police. Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter) and Chandan (Vishal Jethwa) are gutted when the recruitment process is indefinitely delayed.
They aren’t generic strivers. Their social background makes all the difference between how far they can go and where they eventually land up. The young men – one a Muslim, the other a Dalit – know that even a lowly constable has greater mobility, respect and legitimacy than them. A friendship that is affected by divergent experiences is severely tested by the coronavirus pandemic.
Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound is a sobering, thought-provoking film about the unacknowledged complexities of aspiration in a rigidly stratified country like India. As Shoaib and Chandan join the cutthroat race for employment, they find that their social identities are always miles ahead of them.
Chandan faces barbs about how Dalits have it easy because of reservations. References to Shoaib’s faith inevitably surface when a cricket match is played between India and Pakistan. Bigotry is casual and normalised, lobbed at the youngsters to remind them of their position in the pecking order.
Ghaywan’s second feature after Masaan (2015) will represent India at the Oscars. Inspired by a New York Times report by Basharat Peer, the Hindi-language drama illuminates some of Indian society’s darkest truths. Homebound not only exposes embedded bias through the prism of the job hunt but also shows that the burden of understanding, empathy and adjustment is borne by the ones who suffer the most.
Specific individuals – an Islamophobic manager at the company where Shoaib works as a peon, the government officer who cruelly reminds Chandan of his place in the caste system – stand in for the rot that has spread deep and wide. The pandemic is the ultimate reminder that ancient forms of injustice will always find new modes of assertion.
The film’s story, by Ghaywan and Sumit Roy, with dialogue by Ghaywan, Varun Grover and Shreedhar Dubey, unfolds like a contemporary version of neo-realist films from the late 1940s and the 1950s. Despite the brown hues and deep shadows in cinematographer Pratik Shah’s frames, Homebound feels like an old-fashioned, monochrome movie about forgotten individuals battling systemic neglect.
The 120-minute film is divided into two halves, with the pre-pandemic portions serving Ghaywan’s vision far better. Homebound has on-the-nose dialogue and stilted staging in a few places. The pandemic supplies expected scenes of poignancy, but it is in the build-up to this situation that Ghaywan’s rage is most strongly felt.
Shoaib’s domestic situation, Chandan’s mother Phool (Shalini Vatsa) and sister Vaishali (Harshika Parmar) – these tracks yield rich insights into what Shoaib and Chandan are up against. The uncommon courage showed by Shoaib and Chandan gives Homebound its raw power, as well as a semblance of hope. However, Janhvi Kapoor’s Sudha, Chandan’s Dalit friend who pushes him to study instead of work, seems tacked-on and out of place.
Vishal Jethwa isn’t always up to conveying Chandan’s angst. Ishaan Khatter is more compelling as Shoaib, expressing controlled rage and a maturity beyond his years when he is treated like dirt. As Phool, Shalini Vatsa has some moving scenes.
Also read:
‘Homebound’ director Neeraj Ghaywan: ‘What if we practise empathy and listen to the other side?’
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