Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound received approval from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after undergoing 11 cuts, resulting in a runtime that
is 77 seconds shorter than the original submission. Featuring performances by Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, the film premiered in theaters on September 26. In a special interview with Zoom, Ishaan shared thoughts on the CBFC's edits.
Ishaan Khatter comments on Homebound edits
The actor portraying Shoaib in Homebound mentioned to Zoom, “I wasn't the person who was directly dealing with them; I don't want to give a misinformed view. But as an artist, it's obviously difficult to deal with alterations being made. You do feel like the vision of your film that you come to it with can sometimes stray, change, or get altered. Of course, they have their own barometer that they look at it from. I think certification is something that is certainly very important and relevant, and there are certification boards across the world.”
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Ishaan questions CBFC's criteria
He continued, “But my question is, what are the standards and barometers? Different films are looked at with different standards I feel the audience also feels often that certain films are allowed certain leniencies that are given universal certificates or certificates even though they might have disagreeable content and then you know there are certain social films that give you one perspective on society that should be looked at with the same standards that you're looking another at the opposite opinion with. That kind of agnostic viewing is something we would all appreciate as artists and as audience, where you don't hold different standards for different opinions and different points of view.”
Ishaan expressed his viewpoint by stating, “That's all I would say to that. Otherwise, they're doing their job. There needs to be understanding and empathy from both ends because artists also sometimes can get very possessive and protective about what they're doing. But, let’s allow voices to be heard so long as they're reasonable and rational and they're not indicting hate.”
Homebound is India’s official submission for the Oscars 2026. It narrates the tale of two boys and how their friendship endures despite societal biases.
