India, Nov. 21 -- The Oscar campaign for Homebound has begun in the US, with a screening recently kept there to promote the film. Filmmaker Kiran Rao, whose film Lapataa Ladies was India's Oscar entry last year, is happy for the Neeraj Ghaywan-directorial. What's common between both the films is that they are both small-town stories.

Ask her why she thinks juries select such small stories to be India's representation at the Oscars and Kiran Rao says, "I believe that somewhere we've had big commercial cinema move away from stories of our villages, of our small towns, the struggles of farmers and working class people. Across the years, the juries have chosen these stories to represent India because they feel, perhaps, more authentic repres...