The emotional drama, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, was chosen as the festival’s official closing feature. Following its success at Cannes, the film captivated Australian audiences and also won the Best Film and Best Director awards.
August 25, 2025: At the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025, which was the second-to-last stop on its tour of foreign festivals, Neeraj Ghaywan’s strong movie Homebound earned a lot. The second-to-last movie at the festival garnered a standing ovation and won two of the biggest awards: Best Film and Best Director.
The movie from Dharma Productions with Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor is performing quite well. When it first came out, it got a 9-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The story that Basharat Peer wrote in 2020 that inspired Homebound is quite poignant. It tells the story of two friends, one a Dalit and the other a Muslim, who are trying to get home during the Covid-19 lockdown. In Australia, everyone could relate to how it dealt with caste, identity, and the power of personal ties.
Neeraj Ghaywan, the director, thanked everyone after the triumph and added, “It means a lot to bring Homebound to Melbourne and win these two awards.” It’s nice to be with people from all over the world.
The IFFM 2025 awards night also honored many more great movies. Abhishek Bachchan won Best Actor for his work in I Want to Talk, and Geetha Kailasam won Best Actress for her role in Angammal. Aamir Khan, a famous actor for a long time, won the Excellence in Cinema Award for all the excellent things he has done in the industry over the years.
Mitu Bhowmik Lange, who is in charge of the festival, said that the movie was a “powerful and fitting way to close IFFM 2025.” She said, “The movie has everything we love about this festival: brave stories, great acting, and stories that are easy to follow and very personal.”