"Homebound" Oscar Entry: A Gentle Film Exposing India's Deep-Rooted Discrimination

• "Homebound," India's Oscar entry, subtly portrays routine cruelty and systemic discrimination faced by marginalized communities.
• The film follows two friends, Dalit Chandan and Muslim Shoaib, whose lives are shaped by caste and religion, even before Covid-19.
• It highlights how discrimination manifests through paperwork, silence, and closed doors, not just overt violence, impacting their dream of dignity through a government job.
• The Covid-19 lockdown strips away their livelihoods, forcing them into the migrant crisis, with one friend tragically dying due to lack of basic help.
• "Homebound" doesn't lecture but gently reveals the human cost of chronic unemployment, invisible migrant labor, and how caste/religion dictate access to help, offering a universal message about societal suffering.

Why It Matters: "Homebound" is a powerful, gentle film exposing systemic discrimination and the human cost of societal indifference.