Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound' named India's official entry for Oscars
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Kolkata (PTI): Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan's Hindi film "Homebound" was chosen as India's official entry for the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature category on Friday.
The movie, which was selected in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival and was recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, was chosen to represent India at the Oscars by the chairperson of the selection committee N Chandra.
Chandra said a total of 24 films from different languages were in contention for representing the country at the Oscars.
"It was a very difficult choice. These were films that touched the lives of people.. We were not judges but coaches. We were searching for players who have made their mark," he said.
"'Homebound' was chosen unanimously by the jury to represent the country," he added.
Ghaywan shared the news on Instagram and reacted, "OMG!!! This is Real!!"
Asked whether controversial films like "The Bengal Files" did not make the cut, Chandra said every film in the list was a strong contender.
"But we had to select one film from India which will represent the country at the Oscars and 'Homebound' made the cut."
Other than "The Bengal Files", "Pushpa 2", "The Pyre", "Kesari", "Superboys of Malegaon", "Veera Chandrahasa" were among the films competing to be selected by the 14-member selection committee made of producers, directors, writers, editors and journalists.
"Homebound", produced by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawalla, stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor in lead roles.
The film is inspired by journalist Basharat Peer's The New York Times article "Taking Amrit Home", also titled (A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway).
The film portrays the childhood friendship between a Muslim and Dalit who chase a police job that promises them the dignity they have long been denied due to their surnames.
When the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes --which is where Ghaywan's much-acclaimed debut movie "Maasan" also screened -- "Homebound" received a nine-minute-long standing ovation.
The film has received warm reviews during its international festival run and has legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese as an executive producer.
“I have seen Neeraj’s first film Masaan in 2015 and I loved it, so when Mélita Toscan du Plantier (producer) sent me his second film, I was curious. I loved the story, the culture and was willing to help. Neeraj has made a beautifully crafted film that’s a significant contribution to Indian cinema," Scorsese said in a statement that was shared by Johar on Instagram.
Ghaywan later revealed that Scorsese mentored the team through the screenplay and multiple rounds of editing.
"He listened with care, understood the cultural context, and offered thoughtful, incisive notes each time. His kindness and commitment are extraordinary, and to have him nurture our film has been both a rare privilege and a profoundly humbling experience,” Ghaywan said in April.
"Homebound", which is set to release in theatres on September 26, also won major awards at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), including the best film and best director for Ghaywan.
At Toronto, the film was the second runner-up in the International People’s Choice Award category.
Indian films and talents have registered individual wins in Best Song, Music, Sound and Costume categories for films such as "Slumdog Millionaire" and "RRR", but no film has managed to win in the Best International Feature film segment, which was earlier known as the Best Foreign Film category.
Only three Indian films have received nominations in the category and they are Mehmood Khan's "Mother India", Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay" and Ashutosh Gowarikar's "Lagaan". Deepa Mehta's "Water", starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray, also received a nomination but it was submitted from Canada.
The 98th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
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UT with dual power structure 'worst form of govt', says Omar Abdullah
Srinagar (PTI): Terming the current administrative structure in Jammu and Kashmir the “worst form of government”, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for an urgent shift toward full statehood while acknowledging that significant progress has been made in narrowing differences with the Centre over the transaction of business rules.
The chief minister also hit out at vested interests making efforts to create a political wedge between Jammu and Srinagar, saying “they have failed and they will continue to fail”, and highlighted the restoration of the traditional biannual shift of the capital known as ‘Darbar Move’ as a vital bridge in narrowing the emotional divide between the two regions.
Speaking with PTI, Abdullah argued that the logic behind treating a territory with 90 elected legislators on par with smaller regions like Puducherry, which has only 30, remains incomprehensible, and reiterated his earlier stand that a dual power system where two power structures exist is a "recipe for disaster”.
“Can you not see the difference between a tiny one with 30 MLAs and one with 90 MLAs? And you still believe that this current system is beneficial to Jammu and Kashmir after everything that happened last year?” the chief minister asked while referring to the Pahalgham tragedy, pointing out that keeping elected representatives out of the law and order situation was doing no good.
He specifically noted that the size and scale of Jammu and Kashmir demand a governance model where the elected representatives are fully responsible for administration.
“I continue to maintain that view. I continue to believe that a system of Union territory with an assembly is by far the worst form of government that you can come up with,” Abdullah told PTI here recently.
The chief minister highlighted that several key institutions, including universities, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Power Development Corporation, should have automatically come under the domain of the elected government.
“I am not even arguing on the central services, law and order, and police. As a Union territory, those are automatically within the domain of the unelected government. But these were institutions that were previously the responsibility of the elected government. And they should be,” Abdullah said.
Despite these friction points, Abdullah expressed optimism, stating that his government and the Government of India are close to reaching an agreement on the rules of business and that a formal proposal for the appointment of a new advocate general has finally been dispatched to the appropriate authorities.
“Again, as I said, we have made significant progress on these issues,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of summary dismissals of government employees without judicial inquiry, Abdullah described the process as arbitrary, opaque and unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny.
This practice did not originate with the current lieutenant governor's administration but was initiated during the previous BJP-PDP coalition government, he said.
“Look, everyone has the right to prove their innocence. For some reason, these employees were not given that opportunity. And I have no doubt that going ahead, many of these people will return to government service on the back of relief from the court.
“We will not be able to defend the dismissal of these employees in the courts. It will happen, you mark my words, because the process is arbitrary. The process is opaque. There is no clarity and transparency in the process. Ultimately, we will not be able to bear up to judicial scrutiny," he said.
Referring to the promises made by his party, the National Conference, Abdullah detailed the operationalisation of his poll promises, including 200 units of free electricity and six free cooking gas cylinders for the poorest households, underlining that power subsidy is being provided to the poorest of the poor.
He argued that anyone above the poverty line should pay market rates for electricity to ensure that state resources are prioritised for the most vulnerable.
“Rich people shouldn't even be getting subsidised electricity. If I could, though obviously I can't do it in a single stroke, I would like to remove subsidised electricity from all these rich people.
“Anybody above BPL (Below Poverty Line) should not be paying subsidised rates for electricity. They should pay the market rate,” he said.
Beyond direct welfare, Abdullah highlighted the restoration of the ‘Darbar Move’ and the introduction of free education and bus travel for women as key milestones in his 20-month-old administration.
Speaking on the composite culture of J-K, Abdullah said the traditional biannual shift of the capital has allowed a new generation of employees from Jammu, who had never worked in the Valley before, to bond with their Kashmiri counterparts.
“The distance between Jammu and Kashmir has reduced to a great extent,” Abdullah said, adding that the two regions historically come together during times of adversity, whether after natural disasters or security crises.
Replying to a query on Kashmiri Pandits who migrated to various camps in Jammu, Abdullah said the question needs to be asked of the BJP as to why they are still in camps.
“Please ask the BJP how many more elections do they want to exploit their (Kashmiri Pandits’) votes before actually doing something to bring them back,” Abdullah said.
Terming the migration “deeply unfortunate”, Abdullah said, “We want those who left in the late 80s, early 90s, to come back. I have always maintained that they left because their sense of security was snatched away. They will come back only when that sense of security is restored. And we have not been able to do that so far.”
Crediting former prime minister Manmohan Singh for building the Jagti township in Jammu for migrants and creating a job quota for them, Abdullah said that nothing more has been done for the community since then.
To a question on dynastic politics following the recent defeat of M K Stalin in Tamil Nadu, Abdullah dismissed the idea that the defeat of established leaders is a verdict on their lineage, and argued that belonging to a political family only "opens a door" but does not guarantee a seat at the table.
“What keeps it open is your own performance,” Abdullah said, pointing out that even non-dynastic leaders like Mamata Banerjee faced electoral setbacks.
He also dismissed rumours of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle in J-K as “absolute lies”.
