The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has so far announced a list of 117 prominent selections, including four Indian films. The four are Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar (Monkey in a Cage), Bikas Mishra’s Bayaan, and a restored version of Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 film Sholay.
The film festival will take place from September 4-14, 2025. The names of the remaining approximately 280 films are expected to be released in the coming weeks. While Indians in Canada are hopeful that more Indian language films will be listed, the absence of south Indian films has been quite noticeable at the festival for the past two to three years.
Homebound, which was previously screened at the Cannes Film Festival, features Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor in lead roles. This film, which tells the story of two childhood friends whose bond becomes strained as they pursue their careers in a politically divided India, is Ghaywan’s second feature. His debut film Masaan (2015), starring Vicky Kaushal and Richa Chadha, won two awards at Cannes, including the FIPRESCI Prize. Homebound marks Ghaywan’s first film to be screened at TIFF. It’s also noteworthy that renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese is an executive producer of this highly anticipated film by Indian audiences here.
Anurag Kashyap’s latest film Bandar will have its North American premiere at the Toronto Festival. Bikas Mishra’s Bayaan, starring Huma Qureshi, Chandrachoor Singh, and Sachin Khedekar, has the Rotterdam Festival’s Hubert Bals Fund as one of its production partners. In a tribute to Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in India, a new digital print of the film will be screened at TIFF.
Among the prominent films selected at TIFF 2025 so far are 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, Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice, Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, and Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers.
TIFF is known as the ‘Festival of Festivals’ in Canada. Each year, nearly 500,000 people from various parts of the world attend to watch almost 400 films screened across more than 30 venues in the city. Approximately 2,000 media representatives also participate, with 2,500 volunteers contributing to the smooth running of the festival at its various venues. Films selected at TIFF, by and large, go on to shine at the Oscars each year.
Suresh Nellikode has written fiction for Malayalam periodicals like Mathrubhumi and Kalakaumudi. He’s also been a contributor to The New Indian Express and Khaleej Times. He currently lives in Canada.