Variety is unveiling video of a deeply personal conversation between executive producer Martin Scorsese and director Neeraj Ghaywan following a New York screening of “Homebound,” India’s submission for the Academy Awards’ international feature category.
The intimate discussion, which took place after Scorsese hosted the screening, revealed the legendary filmmaker’s three-year involvement with the project, which began during his work on “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The pair spoke extensively about their shared passion for cinema and their connection through French cinema icon Melita Toscan Du Plantier, whom Ghaywan calls his “Cinema Fairy Godmother.” Toscan Du Plantier produced Ghaywan’s previous film “Masaan” and co-produced “Homebound.”
The screening drew notable supporters including filmmaker Mira Nair, television personality Padma Lakshmi, and actor Kal Penn, besides “Homebound” cast members Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa.
During the conversation, Ghaywan revealed the production team used the code word “elder brother” to refer to Scorsese throughout development, keeping his involvement confidential from script to final edit. “Sitting across from you is the peak of that journey and the most meaningful moment of my cinematic journey, the highest peak of my cinematic career,” Ghaywan told Scorsese. “This right here, sitting across from you is the biggest reward for me.”
Scorsese, who provided script notes while immersed in his three-and-a-half-hour epic, expressed his satisfaction with the finished film. “I’ve been living with it for about three years,” he said. “I love the audiences in America to see this picture because I know that it’s based on a real story.”
The film draws from a New York Times essay by Basharat Peer about Mohammad Saiyub and Amrit Kumar. Ghaywan explained his approach to the material focused on universal themes of migration and dignity rather than delivering what Scorsese characterized as “a ponderous kind of lecture.”
“I used this as a springboard to talk about something that affected me, that is universal in thought, that why do migrants leave their homes?” Ghaywan said, noting that 500 to 600 million people are internal migrants in India, many from marginalized communities seeking dignity through government employment.
Inspired by true events, “Homebound” follows two friends — one Dalit and the other Muslim — navigating their country as migrant laborers during the pandemic, testing their friendship while pursuing dignity and belonging.
Watch the conversation here: