Homebound

Chandan Kumar and Shoaib Ali are 2 friends who struggle to make their living better. In the process, covid hit them and turns their lives down. Homebound is all about how they tackle the testing times.

Neeraj Ghyawan takes the viewers to the rural world of the 2 pivotal characters and slowly makes the viewers understand them. He uses dialogues really well to highlight the intensity of various situations. For instance: ‘Reaching the exam hall itself is a task’ highlights the concern of unemployment. In another scene, Chandan’s sister says to him something like,  ‘We never had a choice what to do. But you atleast have’. These create the required strong impact on the viewers. As the movie progresses, we get to see the light banter, rift and tight hugs between them. One of the them literally carries the other and gives the required support to the families. A long shot of them standing,  cut to a different context is just brilliant subtle filmmaking. 

What’s even more evident is the less vocal portrayal of caste discrimination. Be it Chandan getting humilated by an officer, Shoaib’s colleagues mocking him or chandan’s mother shouting in agony.  There are various takeaway moments that stay with the viewers.

Neeraj made sure to eliminate overdrama, especially in scenes related to death.  Special mention to the minimal usage of score. Cuts were pretty decent to make sure narration never skips more to romantic angle and stays within the limit.

It’s really tough to believe that the villian of Mardani 2 played the role of Chandan. Vishal jatwa carried the internal turmoil of Chandan really well. Ishan khatter excellently portrayed the building frustration in Shoaib. The way he desperately tried to be with Chandan towards the end will surely emote you for sure. Also, he managed to share a cool camaraderie with Chandan. Jhanvi kapoor gets limited scope and she puts up notable performance, especially when she conveys her values to Chandan. The moment Chandan’s mother burst out her supressed emotions over the years, shows the impact of the performance of Shalini Vatsa.

Homebound is a deeply moving friendship drama uplifted by raw and intense narration of casteism woven in a tale of survival.

Watch it on Netflix