New Delhi: The box office will witness variations of romance this weekend when Rajkumar Santoshi's 'Phata Poster Nikhla Hero' and Ritesh Batra's debut film 'The Lunchbox' hit the screens Friday.
Critically acclaimed, 'The Lunchbox' seems to be a good option for the viewers.
Featuring Irrfan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur, the film is being promoted and released by Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar.
It has already received huge success at international film festivals and even bagged the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d'Or at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.
The budget of the film has not been revealed. However, it has not been made on a high budget.
"I cannot reveal the budget of the film. All I can say is that it is a low-medium budget film. It is a small film," Vivek Rangachari of DAR Motion Pictures, one of the co-producers of the movie, told IANS.
"The film has been liked so much because it is very local and India-specific and honest to the details about India. It's so local that's why it's universal," Batra, who hopes the movie does well in India too, told reporters.
It has been presented by filmmaker Karan Johar and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga, among others.
Batra has not only shot in different parts of Mumbai for 'The Lunchbox', but also for his next film 'Photograph'. And he doesn't mind people associating the city with him.
"I grew up there. If Mumbai is associated with me as a filmmaker, it would just be my pleasure and honour... I love the city. It's my home. When it's part of your home, you like the best," he said.
"The film is a complete dish. It increases your hunger, both stomach's and your heart's. So it's a complete meal," said Irrfan in an interview.
"The director's style of telling the story is fresh and new. It inspires you to fall in love, something that people are forgetting these days. Love is becoming mechanical and need-oriented. The film reminds you of the real love that exists," he added.
Actress Nimrat Kaur, who makes her debut in Bollywood with the film, says the film has the potential to make a place in the viewer's system.
"The film slowly makes a place in your system. There is a huge space in the film for the audience to enter...," Nimrat said in an interview.
"There is a lovely sensation, which I felt when I saw the film for the second time because the first time I got completely lost in it. So it will appeal to anybody," she added.
The film has already carved a niche for itself in the film festival circuit. It was recently screened at the Toronto film festival and won Critics' Week Viewers Choice Award at Cannes this year.
The makers would be hoping for the film to translate its critical success into box-office collections.
####
Comments
0 comment