'' The Lunchbox '' is a 2013 Indian epistolary romantic film written and directed by Ritesh Batra , and produced by Guneet Monga , Anurag Kashyap , and Arun Rangachari . The film was jointly produced by various studios including DAR motion pictures , UTV Motion Pictures , Dharma Productions , Sikhya Entertainment , NFDC ( India ) , ROH Films ( Germany ) , ASAP Films ( France ) , and the Cine Mosaic ( United States ) . It stars Irrfan Khan , Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles . The film was screened at International Critics ' Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival , and later won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d'Or . It was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival . The film was released in India on 20 September 2013
2013 Cannes Film Festival
2013 Cannes Film Festival
The Lunchbox