Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ gets standing ovation at IFFM 2025 closing ceremony
Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound closed IFFM 2025 with a standing ovation, winning Best Film and Best Director. The Dharma Productions film had earlier premiered at Cannes and features Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor.
Mumbai: National Award-winning filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, brought the curtains down on the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025 with a standing ovation.
The film, produced by Dharma Productions, also won two major awards at this year’s festival—Best Film and Best Director.
Ghaywan shared, “To bring Homebound to Melbourne, and to win these two awards is extremely special.”
“To be in a room full of such diverse people feels truly incredible. One feels so special to see the Australian government and ministers doing so much for this festival. I have never seen such kind of support anywhere else in the world,” the filmmaker added.
The closing night witnessed packed auditoriums with two screenings of the film, which follows the story of two childhood friends from northern India who aspire to become police officers to escape their circumstances. But as their dream starts to become a reality, their friendship begins to falter.
Festival Director Mitu Bhowmik Lange said, “We could not have imagined a more powerful and fitting way to close IFFM 2025 than with Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound. The film embodies everything we celebrate at this festival—fearless storytelling, stellar performances, and narratives that are both deeply personal and universally relatable.”
“Watching the audience rise to their feet in applause was a moment of pride not just for the team of Homebound, but for Indian cinema as a whole. This year’s edition has been about honouring stories that spark empathy and conversation, and Homebound is exactly that kind of story.”
Homebound had a spectacular premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. IFFM 2025 ran from August 14 to 24.
Ghaywan assisted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur and Ugly before making his directorial debut in 2015 with Masaan, which received wide acclaim and won two prizes at the Cannes Film Festival including the FIPRESCI prize.
He later co-directed the second season of Netflix’s Sacred Games with Kashyap in 2019 and directed Geeli Pucchi from the anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans in 2021.
