Homebound makes it to Oscars 2026 shortlist- Karan Johar, Guneet Monga, Ishaan Khatter react

Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound has been shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards. Backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, the film stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor. It has made it to the Best International Feature Film category.

On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlisted films across 12 categories. 15 films made it to the international feature film, including Homebound.

However, this is not the final section. Only top five from the 15 films will make it to the final nominations.

Karan Johar react to Homebound's Oscar shortlisting

Reacting to the selection so far, Karan Johar wrote on his Instagram stories, “We made the shortlist! Way to go team Homebound! You star @neeraj.ghaywan.”

In a separate post, Johar penned a lenghty note for his film. It read: “I am not sure I can articulate how proud, elated and over the moon I am with the journey of #HOMEBOUND… all of us @dharmamovies are privileged to have this proud and important film in our filmography.

He added, “Thank you @neeraj.ghaywan for making so many dreams of ours come true… from Cannes to being on the Oscar shortlist this has been such an overwhelming journey! Love to the entire cast and crew and teams of this special special film!!!!!!!!! Upwards and onwards…….. #HOMEBOUND streaming now on @netflix_in.”

Celebs react to Homebound Oscars 2026 shortlist

Reposting an official post from the production team, Ishaan Khatter simply added multiple red heart emojis on his Instagram stories.

Filmmaker Guneet Monga sent best wishes to the film team. She wrote, “Mega congratulations team #Homebound.”

The official post from Dharma Productions read: “Homebound has been shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. We’re deeply grateful for the extraordinary love and support we’ve received from around the world.”

Divya Dutta, Maheep Kapoor, Adil Hussain, Zoya Akhtar, Rohit Saraf, Aditi Rao Hydari and Lisa Mishra among others sent their love to the Homebound team in the comment section.

Homebound is based on a 2020 New York Times article, "Taking Amrit Home," written by journalist Basharat Peer. It is a real-life story of two migrant friends during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Celebrating the film being shortlisted, Peer wrote on X, “And we made the Oscars shortlist for the International Feature Film!”

Manish Malhotra, Kiara Advani and Dia Mirza also congratulated the team.

See posts:

Other films shortlisted for Oscars 2026 in International Feature Film category

Besides Homebound, other films including Argentina’s Belén, Brazil’s The Secret Agent, France’s It Was Just an Accident, Germany’s Sound of Falling, Iraq’s The President’s Cake, Japan’s Kokuho, Jordan’s All That’s Left of You, Norway’s Sentimental Value, Palestine’s Palestine 36, South Korea’s No Other Choice, Spain’s Sirât, Switzerland’s Late Shift, Taiwan’s Left-Handed Girl, and Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab have been shortlisted in the category for Oscars 2026.

The final selection will be out in January 2026.