Indian spotlight at Toronto Film Fest 2025: Homebound, Monkey in a Cage, Sholay make it, no films from South

Three Indian films have so far made it to the 74-strong list of films selected for the Toronto International Film Festival's 50th anniversary this September. They are Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound', which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Anurag Kashyap's 'Monkey in a Cage', and Ramesh Sippy's 'Sholay' (re-release). The names of the remaining 300-plus films are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks. The absence of South Indian films at the festival has been noticeable for the past two to three years.

'Homebound', starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor in the lead roles, is directed by Neeraj Ghaywan. The film, which tells the story of two childhood friends, is Neeraj Ghaywan's second feature film. His debut film 'Masaan', starring Vicky Kaushal and Richa Chadda, won two awards at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI. This is Ghaywan's first film to be screened in Toronto. It is a film that Indian audiences here are eagerly waiting to see.

Actor-director Anurag Kashyap's latest film 'Monkey in a Cage' will have its global premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. A new digital print of the film is being screened at the Toronto Festival as a tribute to Ramesh Sippy's 'Sholay', which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in India. Indians in Canada are hoping that some more names of other Indian language films will be revealed in the coming days.

The selected films include Alex Winter's 'Adulthood', Scarlett Johansson's 'Eleanor the Great', Aziz Ansari's 'Good Fortune', James Vanderbilt's 'Nuremberg', Alice Winocour's 'Couture', Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein', Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just an Accident', Mark Jenkin's 'Rose of Nevada', Mamoru Hosoda's 'Scarlet', and Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers.

The Toronto International Film Festival is known as Canada's 'festival of festivals'. About half a million people from all over the world come here every year to see around 400 films screened at more than 30 venues in the city. About 2000 media representatives come here for this purpose. About 2500 volunteers will also be present at the venues for the smooth running of the festival.

The film festival will be held from September 4 to 14. The films selected from here usually shine at the Oscars every year.