Irrfan Khan in The Lunchbox

After winning hearts and awards at film festivals all over the world, The Lunchbox is now billed as India’s best chance at the Oscars in many, many years. Before that plays out, the film releases theatrically in India this Friday. t2 caught up with director Ritesh Batra over cups of steaming cappuccino at Indigo cafe in Bandra.

What were you doing before the film bug bit you and bit you hard?

I studied economics. First in Mumbai and then in the US. I did my masters there. Then I worked in consulting for Deloitte for three years. I was travelling a lot for that job and I went to a lot of different countries. I loved travelling but I hated the job. I always wanted to make films. I went to Mira Nair’s lab in Africa, called Maisha. Then I took a couple of writing courses at UCLA. I fell in love with the screenwriting form and then I wanted to study films. I applied to NYU by making a short film and I got in. In my second year in film school, my script The Story of Ram got selected for the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab. The Lab was amazing and it changed things completely for me. I went to the Directing Lab also and it totally jogged my mind.

What was the germ of the idea for The Lunchbox?

In 2007, I wanted to make a documentary on the dabbawalas of Mumbai. I had read a lot of articles about them. I had just come back to Mumbai after being away since 1998 and as it happens, you start noticing things that you hadn’t noticed before. Dabbawalas are so integrated into the fabric of daily life in Mumbai that you hardly notice them. I started spending time with them. Once every week, I would go with this bunch of dabbawalas in Malad. They are all in the movie. I embedded myself with them and eventually became friends. We would eat together and sit together and go do the rounds with them. It’s a very complicated job... the sorting of food. And they started telling me stories about the houses and offices they deliver to. I became really interested in that and I started writing The Lunchbox.

Why did you choose to go the route of international co-production for a simple film like The Lunchbox, given the process is usually time-consuming and involves a lot of paperwork?

Yes, it gets messy, but it is good for the film. I knew what the film really needed. It needed a thorough sound design, it needed a very sparse score and it needed very muted colours. And while I have never worked in Mumbai before, I have never seen anything from here with what I was looking for. I thought if I do it here, I would be fighting in post-production with someone’s natural way of doing things. That would not be good for the film. Also, I felt that the story was such it could travel. And when you want something to travel, you need creative collaborations with people from everywhere.

You’ve got two of India’s best actors in your film — Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui...

Yes! When I finished the first draft of the script, I knew I needed Irrfan for the film. And Nawaz is an actor I have always wanted to work with. They both became very integral to the script as it went through many drafts. If any of those two had said ‘no’, I would have had to rewrite the whole thing. Irrfan came through Lydia Dean Pilcher and Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap, all of whom were producers on the film. They reached out to him and Nawaz too came through them. They liked the script and both came on board. For Nimrat’s (Kaur) part, we went through pretty extensive casting. Lots of meetings with actors. Someone who would invest time in prep, someone who would live the part months before the shoot... spend time in the kitchen, spend time with the five-year-old girl who plays her daughter. Nimrat came in quite late. I saw her in a play and then I met her. And then I offered the part to her just from instinct.

The Lunchbox premiered in Cannes, of course. What was the response there to the film?

Very overwhelming. It was in the Critic’s Week. After the premiere, it became the talk of the town, you know! That same night we had another screening and after that it just became like a juggernaut. The reviews came out a few hours later... Variety and The Hollywood Reporter... and they were extremely glowing and positive. And then this bidding war started on the film. Now it’s sold almost everywhere in the world... US, Japan, Germany, France... everywhere.

What is the world looking for from an Indian film now?

Honestly, they are looking for interesting new voices. It’s hard to tell what festivals are looking for but sales agents and distributors are looking for something they can sell. Something specifically local and honest and real and hence something universal.

Are you hopeful about the theatrical prospects of The Lunchbox in India?

I am. We are getting a sizeable release. It’s high time that there is audience segmentation in India. Arthouse has become a pretty bad word in India because we don’t have curators or authorities like Sundance, Tribeca.... They tell the audience what is good and what is not good. There has to be a filtering mechanism. It’s a pretty murky scenario. But then again, The Lunchbox is a commercial film. It may not have songs but it has humour and it’s got pathos... it’s not intellectual in the pretentious sense.

Given the amazing success story of The Lunchbox, has the Mumbai film industry reached out to you, wishing to work with you?

No! Nobody! Maybe they will, after they watch the film in the theatres here. Maybe they won’t. I have to just keep doing my work. I can’t keep waiting for phone calls (smiles). I have now got an agent in Hollywood. But I have also moved back to Mumbai, with my daughter just 10 months old. And my next script is also based in Mumbai. A love story between a photographer and his muse.

Can you name five films from India from the last 10 years that have made you proud?

Rocket Singh, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Udaan... [Thinks hard] I am sorry I may not reach five. From the old lot, I love Guru Dutt, (Satyajit) Ray, Ritwik Ghatak. Thereafter, our cinema fizzled out and became like a family business. All the original voices got silenced.