Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound,’ featuring Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor, experienced a mixed box office performance, accumulating Rs 1.96 crore by Tuesday after a slow start. The Oscar-entry film, based on Basharat Peer’s column, demonstrated resilience despite initial drops. Critics praised its poignant depiction of friendship, caste, and migrant struggles during lockdown, hailing it as a powerful, unassuming social commentary.
Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Homebound’ directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and backed by Karan Johar took a slow start on Friday where it collected just Rs 30 lakh. But the film saw a turnaround on Saturday where the film saw over 80% jump to collect Rs 55 lakh and on Sunday the film’s collection stayed steady with Rs 55 lakh, taking the weekend collection of Rs 1.40 crore as per Sacnilk.On Monday keeping with the usual trends of collections dropping, Homebound also witnessed a drop of more than 58 % to collect just Rs 23 lakh. But on Tuesday the film again witnessed a turnaround where it collected more than its Friday collection. As per Sacnilk on Tuesday the film collected Rs 32 lakh witnessing a growth of almost 40 %, thereby taking the overall collection of the film to Rs 1.96 crore. The film is based on Basharat Peer’s column from The New York Times and had its premiere at the Cannes film festival in May of this year.It has also become India’s official entry for the Oscars this year. The film spoke about friendship, caste divide and the pain of migrant workers during the lockdown. The Times of India in its review called the film ‘Heart-wrenching and poignant’. It added , ‘the brilliance of Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound lies in its quiet, unassuming, and unpreachy nature. With a perfectly paced two-hour runtime, the film never drags. The narrative doesn’t feel agenda-driven—it simply holds up a mirror to society, serving as a stark and stirring commentary on our growing apathy. You don’t see the storm coming—but when it hits, it shakes you to the core and leaves you numb. Yes, it’s tragic, but the characters never indulge in self-pity or despair. Long after the end credits roll, you’re still seated, overwhelmed, tears rolling down your cheeks.’
