The spaces characters inhabit say as much about them as the lines they speak. Production designer Khyatee Kanchan believes that, more so in films like Homebound. Director Neeraj Ghaywan’s drama, starring Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa, is centred on two friends from marginalised communities who struggle to make their way home amid the pandemic-induced lockdown. Staying true to the lead characters, who are navigating family expectations and poverty, was the starting point for Kanchan. 

“We talked less about design and more about the characters and the demography they come from,” starts Kanchan. As they shaped rooms that indicated generations of use and economic struggle, in Bhopal, where Homebound was largely shot, she believes the approach further helped the actors become their characters. “When Ishaan walked into his room for the first time, he was speechless because he could feel the character through the space. For instance, his character is into cricket. But we depicted that in a subtle way, the room wasn’t filled with [cricket] posters.”