Namrata Joshi

2 weeks ago | newindianexpress.com | Namrata Joshi

By Namrata Joshi He had me at Neeraj. It was literally like Neeraj is doing something, I want to produce it. I was blown away by his debut feature Masaan. I had the opportunity of seeing it right after it burst open at Cannes and met with critical acclaim and success, and I absolutely loved it. Subsequently, we met and collaborated. I was over the moon that he was part of Ajeeb Dastaans. I think he added a lot of gravitas to the ensemble of directors in the anthology.

2 weeks ago | cinemaexpress.com | Namrata Joshi

The journey of Neeraj Ghaywan’s second feature film, Homebound, can be traced back to an eloquent but uncredited photograph on social media—of a young man cradling another, sprawled on the ground next to the highway, two of the many migrant workers forced to walk all the way back home on the sudden declaration of lockdown during the first wave of COVID in 2020.

2 weeks ago | cinemaexpress.com | Namrata Joshi

Neeraj Ghaywan’s second feature film, Homebound, premieres on Wednesday, May 21, in the official Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film festival. It marks a return to feature filmmaking for Ghaywan after a decade and also a comeback to Un Certain Regard in as many years. His debut feature Masaan played in the same section in Cannes 2015 and won the FIPRESCI critics prize and the Promising Future prize.

2 weeks ago | cinemaexpress.com | Namrata Joshi

Cannes Film Festival can often turn out to be an auspicious journey to belongingness for filmmakers. Like it has been for the French actor-filmmaker Hafsia Harzi of Tunisian-Algerian descent. She started off in 2019 at the parallel Critic’s Week segment with her debut feature film You Deserve A Lover. Her sophomore film Good Mother played in the official Un Certain Regard section in 2021 and bagged an ensemble award.

2 weeks ago | screendaily.com | Namrata Joshi

In 2015, Indian writer/director Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature Masaan premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and went on to win the Fipresci award and the prix avenir prometteur. A decade later, he is back in the festival section with his second feature Homebound. Ghaywan attributes the lengthy gap between the two films to Cannes and his own imposter syndrome. “I think every filmmaker goes through self-doubt,” he says.