'Homebound' is inspired by a real story of two friends from UP

Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound' is inspired by Basharat Peer's New York Times article based on two friends, Mohammad Saiyub and Amrit Kumar, who were attempting to return home during the first wave of COVID-19. Peer informally helped out with the script. Additionally, Ghaywan acknowledged that the early lives of Saiyub and Kumar were fictionalised in the film.