Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ bags best film award at IFFM
Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ bags best film award at IFFM
Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ has bagged the Best Film award at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
The Dharma Productions film features Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, and centres around on a New York Times article by Basharat Peer which describes a tragic camaraderie amidst the Covid-19 lockdown in India.
In a statement, Ghaywan added that to bring ‘Homebound’ to Melbourne, and to bag these two awards is extremely special and to be in a room full of such diverse people feels truly incredible. One feels so special to see the Australian government and ministers doing so much for this festival, he hasn’t seen such kind of support anywhere else in the world. This film was made with the
much-acclaimed “Masaan” in 2015.
Adding that they couldn’t have imagined a more powerful and fitting way to close IFFM 2025 than with Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’.
The festival director Mitu Bhowmik Lange asserted that the film embodies everything they celebrate at this festival—fearless storytelling, stellar performances, and narratives that are both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Adding that watching the audience rise to their feet in applause was a moment of pride not just for the team of Homebound, but for Indian cinema as a whole.
Abhishek Bachchan was named Best Actor for his role in Shoojit Sircar’s “I Want to Talk”, Geeta Kailasam won the Best Actress Award for Tamil movie “Angammal”. The film also won Best Indie Film. Aamir Khan won Excellence in Cinema and served as the chief guest of the festival. Bengali film “Baksho Bondi”, which opened the festival, was recognised with Equality in Cinema award.
Aditi Rao Hydari was awarded with ‘Diversity in Cinema’, Aravind Swami with ‘Leadership in Cinema’ and comedian Vir Das with the ‘Disrupter’ award at IFFM.
“Drifters” was named the best short film Australia, and “Kalar Pancils” best short film for India. Child actor Gugun Kipgen received a special mention for his acting in Manipuri film “Boong”.
In the OTT segment, Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Black Warrant” won the Best Series, Jaideep Ahlawat was named Best Actor for “Pataal Lok” season two and Nimisha Sajayan Best Actress for “Dabba Cartel”.
News Edit KV Raman
