NEW DELHI: Hindi film Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, is India’s official entry to the coveted Oscar awards for the year 2026. The film stars Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, and Vishal Jethwa in major roles. The movie tells the story of two friends from a rural hamlet in North India aiming to become police officers and the obstacles they face throughout the journey. The movie is set to be released in theatres on September 26th.

However, many fretted on social media after the list by the Film Federation of India of movies sent for the Oscars selection panel appeared publicly. The inclusion of commercial movies like Pushpa 2 and Kannappa paved the way for trolls and rejoinders. Kannappa was a commercial flick in the Telugu language that performed dismally at the box office.

However, many said that it was indeed the choice of the producer to send the movies to the film federation. Meanwhile, it is alleged that Malayalam and Tamil movie producers this year chose not to send their movies to the Oscar selection panel.

Many others on social media, meanwhile, asked people not to fall head over heels for the American award, which they called merely a show of opulence and predicted that the academy would never favour an Indian movie to take the centre stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.