'' The Lunchbox '' was considered by many people throughout the year to be a lock as India 's selection for the 86th Academy Awards Best Foreign Film Category , with many critics unanimously praising it and voting for it to be the representative film . Celebrity director Karan Johar also put his support behind the film saying " All kinds of audience can connect with it and yet within the parameters of love story it is completely unusual . You feel all the love in the world for the protagonists and the unusual aspect of it is they have n't met . " However , the selection committee of the Film Federation of India ( FFI ) deliberated on 17 September 2013 and decided to send the Gujarati film '' The Good Road '' instead . This decision sparked outrage from many supporters of '' The Lunchbox '' , including its cast and crew . The film 's producer Anurag Kashyap quickly took to Twitter and expressed his disgust , saying " I do n't know who the Federation is , but it goes to show the complete lack of understanding to make films that can travel across borders . " He later deleted both his Twitter and Facebook accounts , saying , " this is a moment of defeat for me , and for independent cinema , because , for once , our chances were great . " Karan Johar also said he felt very disappointed that such a wonderful chance at Oscar glory with '' The Lunchbox '' was spoiled . Guneet Monga , '' The Lunchbox '' other producer , said she was flabbergasted as to how the Federation could select a movie that did n't even have an American distributor , and also listed the number of global festivals and appreciation her film received , concluding that it sadly and supposedly " was n't enough for the FFI "
86th Academy Awards
86th Academy Awards
The Lunchbox