Homebound Director Neeraj Ghaywan Shares Why He Highlights The Dalit Community In Films

Neeraj Ghaywan, best known for his socially conscious storytelling, has often emphasised the challenges centring Dalit life in his films. At a recent panel discussion, the Homebound filmmaker presented

his opinion on the industry’s narrow narrative lens, highlighting how mainstream Hindi films disproportionately reflect the lives of a wealthy minority while ignoring enormous portions of the country.

At Zoom’s Best Performances Directors 2025, Neeraj Ghaywan said, “The films that we make, we only make it about the 15% of the population of India. We do not make films about the rest of the 75%. It’s always upper caste narratives made and created by upper caste narratives. Then you are ignoring 75% of the population, it is always left in the lurch.”

Neeraj Ghaywan On His Stress On Dalit Lives In Films

The filmmaker went on to say that the disparity is caused not only by caste, but also by geography and lived realities. He went on to say that it could also imply that you are solely referring to urban populations. Or a little town where you mock the English and make fun of their appearance, but 60 to 70% of the economy is agrarian and people live in villages. He added, “Why aren’t we talking about villages? Why aren’t we presenting them? It’s such a lopsided view because that monopolised 15% is the one that is creating and hence their own stories are being made.”

Neeraj Ghaywan also addressed criticism he has received for continually exploring Dalit narratives in his works. The filmmaker clarified that his objective is not advocacy, but honest storytelling, and that his choices stem from a lack of options in the industry. He said, “Sometimes people mean it well also because fundamentally I am a filmmaker. I am not an activist. I don’t want to be an intelligent filmmaker all the time. But the thing is that nobody else is making – what do I do?”

The filmmaker’s latest film Homebound made its global premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Homebound was also selected as India’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.