Homebound, produced by Dharma Productions and starring Vishal Jethwa and Ishaan Khatter, is India’s official entry for the Oscars this year. The film has already crossed a significant milestone by securing a place among the Academy’s top 15 shortlisted films in the International Feature category. The final list of five nominees will be announced tonight.
If selected, Homebound would mark a rare and historic moment for Indian cinema. No Indian film has received a nomination in this category since Aamir Khan’s Lagaan in 2002, when the award was known as Best Foreign Language Film. A nomination would reaffirm India’s growing presence on the global awards circuit and spotlight contemporary Indian storytelling on one of cinema’s biggest stages.
The competition, however, is intense. Homebound faces strong international challengers, including It Was Just An Accident (France), Sentimental Value (Norway), Belén (Argentina), The President’s Cake (Iraq), Sound of Falling (Germany), Kokuho (Japan), All That’s Left of You (Jordan), Palestine 36 (Palestine), No Other Choice (South Korea), Sirat (Spain), Late Shift (Switzerland), Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan) and The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia). Only five films will advance to the final nominations.
Beyond the international feature race, several Hollywood projects are expected to dominate major categories this year. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners are widely tipped for multiple nominations. Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet are also seen as awards-season front-runners, while films such as F1, Frankenstein, Train Dreams and Bugonia remain in contention across technical and creative categories.
India has enjoyed recent Oscar success, notably in 2023, when SS Rajamouli’s RRR won Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu, and The Elephant Whisperers secured Best Documentary Short, delivering a double victory for the country.
The Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026, with comedian and television host Conan O’Brien returning as host for the second consecutive year. As the industry awaits the nominations, all eyes remain firmly on Homebound and its bid to carry India’s cinematic momentum forward.
