'Homebound' For Oscar 2026: When Will The Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter Movie Stream In India

Homebound, a Hindi-language film directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, has been selected as India's official entry for the 2026 Oscars. The film will compete with the best picks from nations around the world for the Best International Feature Film category. Homebound has already made its premiere at the prestigious 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2025, in the Un Certain Regard section. It also received a standing ovation and praise for its storytelling. Here's when you can watch the movie and which OTT platform might clinch its rights.

Homebound is India's official entry for the 2026 Oscars

Homebound defeated popular films like Pushpa 2, The Bengal Files and Kesari Chapter 2 to secure a nomination at the 98th Academy Awards. The film stars young actors, Vishal Jethwa, Ishaan Khatter, and Janhvi Kapoor in pivotal roles. The film has already garnered praise and honours worldwide, even before its official release in India. It won the second runner-up spot at the International People's Choice Award at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Earlier, Homebound received a nine-minute-long standing ovation at Cannes, making for a truly remarkable moment.

Homebound's plot and character details

Homebound is based on the 2020 New York Times essay, A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway by Kashmiri journalist, Basharat Peer. The essay chronicled the story of two real-life migrant workers, Mohammad Saiyub and Amrit Kumar, caught in India's COVID-19 lockdown. Neeraj Ghaywan used this true story as its foundation but fictionalised the characters' backstories to explore themes of caste, religion, and inequality in rural India.

The movie follows two childhood friends, 'Shoaib' (Ishaan Khatter), who is Muslim, and 'Chandan' (Vishal Jethwa), who is a Dalit, as they chase their dream of becoming police officers. The duo, residents of a village in North India, want to escape their hardscrabble circumstances by becoming influential figures in society. They believe the government job will finally grant them the respect and dignity that society has long denied them due to their caste and religion.

Amid their struggles, 'Chandan' finds love in 'Sudha Bharti' (Janhvi Kapoor). She is the daughter of a government official, who represents a different social stratum and worldview. Then a rift causes 'Chandan' and 'Shoaib' to drift apart; however, they reconcile later in a place away from their home. As things start to look good for them, COVID-19 hits, and the 'homebound' friends attempt to return to their village, providing the film's emotional climax.

When and where can you watch Homebound in India?

Homebound is set for a worldwide theatrical release on September 26, 2025. The movie makers have not yet confirmed the OTT platform for the 1-hour-59-minute movie. However, a report by NewsBytes suggested that Netflix might be interested in securing the OTT rights of the Ishan Khattar-starrer. Karan Johar, the producer of Homebound and its cast, Janhvi Kapoor and Ishan Khattar, celebrated their film's official entry to the Oscars 2026.

Karan Johar shared on social media that he was 'deeply honoured and humbled' by Homebound's Oscar nomination, calling the film 'Neeraj Ghaywan's labour of love.' Janhvi Kapoor wrote an emotional note on Instagram describing the film's journey as 'nothing short of a dream.' Ishaan Khatter called Homebound a film that is 'much bigger than us.'

What are your thoughts on Homebound being India's official 2026 Oscar entry?

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