Vishal Jethwa is my actor discovery of the year. I had no clue this guy existed until Netflix dropped Homebound into my weekend queue. What makes his story even more compelling is learning about his journey - a kid raised by a single mother, taking the scenic route that outsiders are forced to navigate in Bollywood, yet still managing to hold his own against the more pedigreed Ishan Khatter (Neelima Azeem's son and Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor's brother).
Vishal Jethwa(l), Ishaan Khatter(r) - a scene from Homebound (2025)
The real kicker though is Homebound marks the triumphant return of Neeraj Ghaywan - my and probably India's rediscovery of the year. Ghaywan, the blogger-film critic ditched his corporate cubicle to chase his filmmaking dreams. His debut film - Masaan back in 2015 wasn't just groundbreaking because it launched Vicky Kaushal into Bollywood (tauba tauba..) it was revolutionary because Ghaywan tackled heavyweight themes like caste, class, and discrimination with the subtlety of a master craftsman and it made its all the way to Cannes and won a couple of awards.
Homebound took him back to Cannes again this year, above is the proof.
What sets Ghaywan apart is his authentic understanding of humiliation and institutional cruelty experienced by the downtrodden and lower caste/class people in India – the kind that comes from lived experience, not research papers. Although Ghaywan grew up in urban in India of the 80s and 90s, going to prominent schools and almost never came out as 'Dalit' till he entered the film field later in his life. As a Dalit filmmaker, he brings a visceral understanding of what it means to navigate a world designed to keep you out. This is filmmaking from the trenches, created from blood, sweat, and tears rather than market research and focus groups. I have zero patience for fantasy fiction that exists in some make-believe bubble, but Homebound is cinema that matters.
Homebound continues the Ghaywan's unflinching style taking us along the life journey of two lifelong friends – young men from different discriminated backgrounds, one facing religious prejudice, the other caste discrimination. Jethwa and Khatter completely shed their Bollywood personas (though I'm not entirely sure Jethwa had one to shed in the first place) and deliver performances so grounded and vulnerable you forget you're watching actors.
The story unfolds before and during the pandemic, which hit me like a revelation about how differently COVID played out across the globe. All I experienced in my small-town America was minor 'conveniences' like working from home for a month and the great toilet paper shortage scare, India faced something entirely more devastating. The sudden shutdown didn't just pause life – it destroyed livelihoods overnight, forcing millions to walk thousands of miles back home when the entire transportation network collapsed. It was an unnecessary human catastrophe layered on top of an already devastating health crisis.
Throughout the film, B.R. Ambedkar's framed portrait appears like a gentle reminder - the Dalit statesman who studied at Columbia and LSE and architected India's Constitution. His presence in these frames speaks to unfinished promises and the persistent gap between constitutional ideals and street-level reality.
Homebound isn't just probably the best Hindi film of 2025 – it might just be the best, period. It's the kind of movie that reminds you why cinema exists in the first place: to show us ourselves, warts and all, and maybe help us figure out how to be a little more human in the process.
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