Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 22 (ANI): Neeraj Ghaywan's directorial 'Homebound', which stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, has been selected by the Film Federation of India (FFI) as the country's official entry for the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.

On Monday, a press conference was organised in Mumbai, where Ishaan, Vishal and Neeraj expressed happiness over the film's selection for Oscars, sharing their experience working on the project.

'This is the film I am proudest of. Bhaut garv hai mujhe ispe....It's an extremely important film. Neeraj bhai has made this movie with a lot of thought so that it can reach a wider audience,' Ishaan said.

The film was earlier screened at Cannes 2025, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). It is now all set to be released in Indian theatres on September 26.

'I mean, Cannes, Toronto, Melbourne, all of these things happened and we were super thrilled for the critical acclaim that we got from around the world. But personally for me, it being homebound to India is the biggest, biggest thing. I mean, that cannot be matched with anything else. We are so eager to see how everyone sees it on the 26th of September. We have made this film for our country. We made this film with absolute authenticity and absolute integrity and it shows, I hope it shows here and people appreciate it,' Neeraj said.

Ghaywan's 'Homebound' revolves around two childhood friends from a small North Indian village who chase a police job that promises them the dignity they've long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together.

While speaking about the film, Vishal shared the advice once given to him by Aditya Chopra, which he continues to follow.

'To play this character, I followed a kind of guru mantra that Aditya Chopra sir once shared with me. When I first met him, he told me, 'Surrender yourself completely to the director.' That advice has stayed with me, and I still follow it. I did the same here..I simply surrendered. Beyond that, I honestly don't know what more I have done. When I met Neeraj sir, I carried only one thought in my mind: he has invested so much time and effort into this film, and I wanted to honour that,' Vishal shared. (ANI)