Filmmaker N. Chandra was the chairman of the 14-member selection committee set up by the Film Federation of India for choosing India’s official entry for Oscars 2025 in the Best International Feature Film category. The announcement — of Homebound being the jury choice — was made in Calcutta where the deliberations were made by the committee. This was the third time in six years when the venue for Oscar selection has been Calcutta.
Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, was the unanimous choice. The film premiered at Cannes this year in the Un Certain Regard section, where it got a standing ovation. It was the second runner-up for the Toronto International Film Festival’s International People’s Choice award.
Jury chairman N. Chandra said after the announcement, “The film’s international success speaks for itself. It has great story-telling and stellar performances. We could send only one film and we thought, this was marginally better. It was a very difficult choice to make.” FFI president Firdausul Hasan said, “While the merit of the film is important, it is equally crucial to send a film that will have the marketing power to knock the right doors.”
Besides chairman N. Chandra, the jury consisted of writer Ranbir Pushp, art director Angelica Monica Bhowmick, producer-director Abhishek Jain, producer Surinder Singh, writer Ratnottama Sengupta, editor Apurva Motiwale, producer Akshay Kumar Parija, editor Suresh Urs, producer-director Tammareddy Bharadwaja, actor Aimee Baruah, director-lyricist R.V. Uthayakumar, director Rajiv Anchal and film journalist Rajiv Vijaykar.
