#SHOWBIZ: Scorsese-backed Indian film makes waves at Cannes
ON paper Neeraj Ghaywan's "Homebound", which premiered at the Cannes film festival on Wednesday, looks like a Bollywood tearjerker.
Two best friends who grew up together in a poor village leave to take on the world, with their friendship and mettle tested at every turn.
But this is no average buddy movie.
Set in northern India during the pandemic lockdowns, the moving epic is much more than a typical buddy film, as one of the boys is a Muslim and the other a low-caste Hindu.
Their unbreakable bond, forged in adversity, is the beating heart of the film, which so moved Hollywood director Martin Scorsese that he got on board to help take it to the world.
There are millions of such friendships that cross religious and caste divides in India, its director said, "but it has never been shown" before on the big screen.
Ghaywan said: "Only a few of films have ever featured Dalit (lower caste) stories and most of those were made by people from the privileged castes."
Ghaywan is a rare figure in Bollywood — a Dalit director from the lowest rung of the rigid Hindu caste system.
He believes he is the "first acknowledged Dalit behind a camera in the history of Hindi cinema. That's a stunning disparity".
This disparity means that the stories of a quarter of India's 1.4 billion people, those who are tribal or from castes once disparagingly known as "untouchables", are rarely seen on screen.
"India and the world really need to see their stories," said Ghaywan, adding that with such a vast population "it is understandable that they are often talked about as just statistics".
"I am a Dalit. So there's a lot of me in the movie," said Ghaywan, who lives near Mumbai but grew up in southern India.
It is also loosely inspired by a heartbreaking real-life tale of poor workers who set out on foot for an epic journey back to their village from the city during the Covid lockdowns.
Ghaywan brought his two leading actors, Bollywood heartthrob Ishaan Khatter and rising star Vishal Jethwa, into villages to experience life among India's poor firsthand.
"We went through a long immersive exercise. We met people and ate in their homes. It was such a humbling experience."
AVOIDING CONTROVERSY
Caste and religious discrimination remain highly sensitive topics in India.
The country is currently on edge after recent tensions with Muslim-majority Pakistan, sparked by a terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.
India's Hindu nationalist government has often been accused of stoking hatred of Muslims.
Aware of the need to pass India's strict film censors, Ghaywan said he avoided overt politics or anything that might inflame communal tensions.
Sandhya Suri's movie, "Santosh", which premiered at Cannes last year, still hasn't screened in India despite winning numerous international awards.
"Santosh" shed light on sexism, religious discrimination and corruption in Indian police as well as the treatment of lower caste people.
Ghaywan added, "I prefer to keep politics beneath the surface of the narrative. If your politics override the story, it becomes propaganda. Even good propaganda is still propaganda — it's not cinema."
Emotion, however, holds no fear for Ghaywan.
"I embrace it. I make no apologies for it. We Indians are an emotional people and this is a story that stirs many emotions."
Industry insiders have "bawled and bawled" at private screenings of the film, he said. Scorsese praised it, saying: "Neeraj has made a beautifully crafted film that's a significant contribution to Indian cinema."
He said he wasn't surprised that Cannes snapped it up for its secondary "Un Certain Regard" selection after Ghaywan won two prizes there in 2015 with his debut film "Masaan".
Though flattered by the recognition, Ghaywan said he didn't make the film for festivals or arthouse audiences.
"The most important thing is that it is seen in India."
He said that "Homebound" does not target or accuse anyone, noting that the story is set in a fictional state.
India's presence at Cannes is strong this year, with Satyajit Ray's "Days and Nights in the Forest" receiving a gala screening, aided by Hollywood director Wes Anderson, who helped fund the restoration of the 1970 masterpiece.
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