He’s equated with designer threads, gossip and nepo kids. But in the last 15 years, ever since My Name Is Khan — when he discovered the use of surnames as magnets for discrimination — he’s been wrapping social issues under his favourite brand labels. Fissures created by caste, religious victimisation, familial patriarchy and vernacular prejudices are the whacks that Karan Johar has been delivering through Dhadak (2015), Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), Dhadak 2 (2025) and now Homebound, which is Oscar-bound.

With his reach in the corridors of power, Karan’s backing for Neeraj Ghaywan has ensured that Homebound goes places it may not have on its own. India’s Oscar entry has an interesting bunch of names that have brought it together, with Martin Scorsese’s name looming over it as mentor (it helps to get a foot in the door with the Academy overseeing the Oscars).

Ishaan Khatter, son of actors Neelima Azim and Rajesh Khattar, has been acing the act of the marginalised boy since his debut with Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds (2018) in which he played drug dealer Aamir, who lives under a bridge. He and Janhvi Kapoor, one of the three lead actors of Homebound, had already soaked themselves in the blood wars set off by caste divides in Dhadak, before they came together for more of the same in Ghaywan’s film.

Ghaywan himself continues to pursue the humiliations of caste, a topic he had introduced on the burial ghats of Benares in Masaan (2015). Surnames, identity and their social implications are serious business for him. Even on his set, every light boy and makeup dada must be addressed by name, and 50 per cent of his workforce must be female. Whether cinema can bring social change will forever be debatable but watching young actor Vishal Jethwa (representing a marginalised caste in Homebound) speak in Hindi with confidence while all around him spoke in fluent English, especially at international festivals, was a manifestation of Ghaywan goading everybody to be comfortable with who they are.

Even if it’s only an entry at this stage, the Oscar label has elevated Homebound with an orgasmic welcome from critics. But will it find patronage in large numbers? There’s nothing subtle in his storytelling. From colleagues poking fun at Ishaan’s Mohammed Shoaib for halal vegetables and no passport required for Pakistan, it’s an on-the-nose jab. Ghaywan has his mission clear and he’s committed to it, hoping that his cinema and his off-screen mentorship will make a difference.

Maybe they will but there is a difference between serious cinema and wholesome fare, best distinguished this Friday with Homebound and Leonardo DiCaprio’s One Battle After Another competing at the theatres. DiCaprio’s film calls itself an adventure thriller; it’s raunchy with phrases like “semen demon”, “rape in reverse” and a uniformed captain (Sean Penn) walking around with a forced arousal by a black woman revolutionary. But the fun ride is accompanied by weightier thoughts on parenting, biological parenthood, skin colour and fanaticism over racial purity. Love, family, injustice and a violent fight for rights are all on the jaunty road. As The New York Times wrote, “It’s a carnivalesque epic… what makes it exhilarating is that it engages with its moment as few American fiction films do. It’s also snort-out funny, even when its laughs tremble with rage.”

Of course, it takes all sorts to make the film world. But Karan, who has parented Homebound will appreciate the difference between sombre cinema and delivering a Sunday punch while horsing around with velvet gloves. After all, he took home his latest National Award for wholesome entertainment just last week.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author