Karan Johar<\/a>\u2018s commercial powerhouse Dharma Prods. created what both actors describe as an ideal creative environment.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cKaran produced a film like this because he wanted to do something meaningful with Neeraj,\u201d Khatter explains. \u201cHe never pressured Neeraj to make a certain kind of film. He only empowered him to make his film the best way that he can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tGhaywan employed innovative techniques on set, including what he calls \u201cCode 360\u201d \u2014 a protocol where the entire crew speaks in whispers and communicates only in the emotional tone of the scene being filmed. He also created custom music playlists for each actor to help them find their characters\u2019 emotional centers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNeeraj has this way where he is very involved with all the actors,\u201d Jethwa says. \u201cHe makes this atmosphere that helps actors perform even in a better way. He gave us a lot of weapons, like language, and he also told us to lose weight so that we don\u2019t look muscular on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe film\u2019s last chapter draws from true events, adding another layer of responsibility to the performances. Both actors underwent extensive preparation to authentically portray their characters\u2019 experiences.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe wanted to make it authentic and nothing else, and not to pander to a certain gaze,\u201d Khatter says. \u201cThe beauty of Neeraj\u2019s cinema is that it\u2019s inherently very Indian but has a universal idiom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat universality has resonated at festivals from Cannes to Toronto, with audiences responding to the film\u2019s themes of empathy and human connection.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat we are craving for right now as humans is empathy,\u201d Jethwa says. \u201cPeople in some or the other way, unknowingly also discriminate people because of how they look, what they talk, what they eat, and their belief system. This film is very important to each and everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the Oscar campaign intensifies, both actors say they\u2019re focused on getting the film seen rather than dwelling on competitive pressure.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m just enjoying this process a lot because only very few actors get this opportunity to even go for an Oscar campaign,\u201d Jethwa says. \u201cI really hope the best film wins, and I also hope that \u2018Homebound\u2019 is the best film.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tKhatter adds: \u201cThe thing that gives me the confidence to enjoy this moment is the fact that I know we\u2019ve made a beautiful and honest film. The film speaks for itself, and that is the best thing we can do \u2014 just make sure it reaches people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Martin Scorsese retreated to his room at 11 p.m. to watch \u201cHomebound\u201d during the editing process, the legendary director didn\u2019t just provide notes \u2014 he became deeply invested in bringing Neeraj Ghaywan\u2019s story of two migrant workers to the screen. Now, shortlisted for the Academy Award for best international feature film, the Indian drama […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2240300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[383743,376552,350265,305425],"class_list":["post-2240299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-homebound","tag-ishaan-khatter","tag-karan-johar","tag-martin-scorsese"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Homebound-Stars-on-Martin-Scorsese-Karan-Johar-and-Oscar-Run.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2240299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2240301,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240299\/revisions\/2240301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2240300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2240299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2240299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2240299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}