Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound, India's official submission for the 98th Academy Awards, has failed to secure a nomination in the Best International Feature Film category. The nominations were announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, tells the story of two childhood friends in a North Indian village with aspirations of joining the police force. However, their ambition is complicated by caste divisions and religious tension. The film stars Vishal Jethwa and Ishaan Khatter in lead roles. Janhvi Kapoor also stars in the film.
The movie had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category, where it received a nine-minute standing ovation. Legendary Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese served as executive producer. Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment jointly produced the film, which was released in Indian theaters on September 26, 2025.
The film's story was inspired by an essay by Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, titled "Taking Amrit Home". The essay, published in the New York Times in 2020 and now retitled "A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway," provided the foundation for the film's narrative.
Homebound competed against films such as Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident (France), Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (Norway), Kleber Mendonça Filho's Belén (Argentina), Hasan Hadi's The President's Cake (Iraq), Mascha Schilinski's Sound of Falling (Germany), Lee Sang-il's Kokuho (Japan), Cherien Dabis's All That's Left of You (Jordan), Annemarie Jacir's Palestine 36 (Palestine), Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice (South Korea), Oliver Laxe's Sirat (Spain), Petra Volpe's Late Shift (Switzerland), Tsou Shih-Ching's Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan) and Kaouther Ben Hania's The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia).
The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced by Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman. The 2026 Oscars will be held on March 15, 2026, and Conan O'Brien will host the event for the second consecutive year.
The last Indian film to receive a nomination in the Best International Feature Film category was Aamir Khan's Lagaan in 2002. If Homebound had been nominated, it would have been the first Indian film to achieve this feat in over two decades.
The category, previously known as Best Foreign Language Film, was renamed Best International Feature Film in April 2019. For the 98th Academy Awards, 92 countries submitted films, with 86 meeting the eligibility criteria. Madagascar and Papua New Guinea submitted films for the first time, and Haiti resubmitted a film that was previously disqualified. Greenland made its first submission since 2012.
The five films nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar are The Secret Agent (Brazil), It Was Just an Accident (France), Sentimental Value (Norway), The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), and Sirât (Spain). The Secret Agent (Brazil) and Sentimental Value (Norway) also received nominations for Best Picture.
