Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan and producer Karan Johar’s film Homebound exited the 98th Oscar race on Thursday when the final nominations for the Academy Awards 2026 were announced. The film, starring Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa in leading roles, was India’s official entry to Oscars. The makers of the film, including executive producer Martin Scorsese, ran a long campaign, showcasing the film at different film festivals across the world leading up the nominations. The film’s writer Sumit Roy says that Karan and the rest of the team put their best foot forward to reach where they did.
Homebound, which tells the story of two friends and their dream of becoming police officers one day, was in the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy awards.
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“Running an Oscar campaign is hard, complicated and very, very expensive- sometimes the cost of the campaign is more than the film. It’s always going to be an uphill battle for most Indian films. But I have to say Karan and Dharma have done a terrific job, moved heaven and earth to get us the best chance possible! I don’t think we could have done anything more,” says Sumit.
Further putting perspective into what every film is up against during the nominations, he shares, “In the international category you’re competing against around 90 of the best films from around the world, the first big challenge is to get the attention of Academy voters and get them to watch your film, before you can even get them to vote. That’s where a good festival run can create a buzz and awareness for your film that can get them to lean in and give your film their time.”
Every year India sends an official entry but not every film makes it to the Shortlisted stage. Before Homebound, it was Gujarati film The Last Show was shortlisted for nominations in 2022 but didn’t make it to the final nominations list.
Sumit hopes that more producers back-up good Indian stories for the films to achieve global success.
“We have one of the biggest film industries, our country is an ocean of stories – and we have world class technicians and filmmakers, Oscars & festival nominations helps open out our cinema to more people globally. We need producers and stars who are ready to back good stories and good filmmakers, we need more producers who support brave, independent creativity – and create an ecosystem that promotes distinctive indie voices – and the international recognition will follow,” he says.
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