On the 6th floor rooftop terrace of the Cannes Film Festival’s famous Palais, it’s blowing a gale. “We almost flew off,” laughs Ishaan Khatter, 29, the Mumbai-born Bollywood star, who is managing to keep his cool on this particularly blustery day.
Famed for his role in Netflix Hindi-language TV series The Royals and The Perfect Couple, the actor is as dashing as you might expect. But today, he’s in Cannes to show very different side to him. Screening in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, Homebound is a nuanced tale of friendship.
Already gaining acclaim from its early reviews, Homebound is another impressive entry in the recent renaissance of Indian cinema. After last year’s Cannes Grand Jury prize-winner, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, the movie industry from the subcontinent is experiencing its own wind of change. “It’s a beautiful time,” Khatter tells The National. “I think this global spotlight on Indian cinema…it’s brighter than it’s ever been before. Because we’re seeing such diverse work.”
Neeraj Ghaywan, the writer-director of Homebound, concurs, paying full tribute to Kapadia. “She broke the glass ceiling for all of us. She’s the hero that we all need.”
Ghaywan is also no stranger to Cannes, his 2015 debut Masaan similarly playing in Un Certain Regard. “Honestly speaking, just returning to Cannes was the thing, where it all started for me. This was my homecoming journey, in a way.”
Set in a village in Northern India, Homebound follows best friends Shoaib (Khatter) and Chandan (Vishal Jethwa), who both apply to be police constables, with the hope that such an esteemed public role will render them immune to caste or religious discrimination. The statistics, however (very real, according to Ghaywan), count against them. There are 714 applicants for every position available. It’s a chase for work that will eventually come between them.
“I was really struck by the way that Neeraj was able to weave all these things into the story,” says Khatter. “It’s a very rare kind of film. I don’t think many actors get the opportunity to play something quite like this.
"As a character, I thought Shoaib was deeply complex, beautiful and human. I thought that there was a persistence to this character, despite all odds, that almost made him feel like an optimist in the beginning. When you start seeing the cracks, you start seeing him getting beaten down by those societal, systemic pressures, and your heart really breaks for him and for their friendship.”
Ghaywan says the film came loosely inspired by a real-life story in The New York Times. “When we speak about people of colour, like any ethnic and religious minorities, sexual minorities, even migrants, we’re always calling them as a statistic,” he explains. “We’re never asked to humanise them.
"What if we actually pick up these two migrants and see where they came from? What did they love? What was the friendship? What was the family? What were their homes like? What were their dreams? What did they leave behind? What did it take for them to reach this point? Maybe then we will have empathy and we’ll see humanity in the whole situation.”
Intriguingly, the film is produced by Karan Johar, the hugely successful Indian producer whose company Dharma Productions is behind some of the biggest Bollywood movies.
“Karan and I formed this bonhomie, because he also a person who has deep empathy, and he gets moved by things, and he loved Masaan,” says Ghaywan. “And he said, ‘I just want to do something with you. Can we collaborate on one film?’ I said, ‘Of course.’”
That Johar was also willing to give him artistic freedom (“no meddling”) was a dream. “Imagine you get studio money to make an independent film,” the director marvels.
Even better, Homebound is also executive produced by Martin Scorsese. Like Johar, the acclaimed director behind Goodfellas and Raging Bull was also a fan of Masaan. This time, after Ghawyan’s team approached him, he got more involved, giving feedback on the script and watching several cuts of the film. “I’m literally living the dream of every independent filmmaker,” Ghaywan tells me.
So how did Khatter feel, knowing that Scorsese was sitting in his screening room watching his work? “It was absolutely surreal,” he replies. “He’s the North Star in the world of cinema, and even from whatever I’m privy to of his notes and the kind of influence that he has had on this film, it’s just such a masterful gaze. Somebody that doesn’t come from a removed or outside perspective, but comes from deeply educated perspective. It’s a dream, and I don’t want this dream to end.”
For Khatter, he feels a film like Homebound also brings him back to his roots, when he made 2017’s Beyond the Clouds with the Iranian auteur Majid Majidi, playing a street hustler and drug dealer in Mumbai. “That was an extremely rooted, grounded film and I would say that socially, I was playing a character that was from a similar section of society. And I could find a lot of parallels in the process that I undertook with Neeraj.”
Shooting Homebound in Madhya Pradesh, in Bhopal, Khatter and his co-star Vishal Jethwa enjoyed what Ghaywan calls “a massive immersion exercise”, in which they met and mixed with locals. “Neeraj made it very clear that we can’t take for granted that we will understand these characters,” says Khatter. “So there was a lot of research. We would sit down with people and try and get a sense of the lives that they have, the struggles that they have, the daily obstacles that they have to deal with.”
The results are there for all to see, with Ghaywan suggesting he wanted to stay true to his cinema-verite roots. “You can’t wing it. That feels dishonest,” he states.
It’s why Khatter couldn’t even devote time, as much as he wanted to, to signing autographs for the crowds that would gather.
“I wanted to stay as immersed as I possibly could. So while I wasn’t rude…it was a smile and wave and then go to work,” he says.
Whatever the case, his fans are going to be astonished when they see him in Homebound.
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1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
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TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Syria squad
Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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SQUADS
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
ICC match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
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