MUMBAI: Karan Johar never used to share his lunchbox in school with his gujju friends. Worrying that the dhoklas will end up making oil stains in his schoolbooks, the director always preferred eating alone. Years later, his attachment to his lunchbox continues as he comes as a presenter for Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Lunchbox’.
‘The Lunchbox’ has premiered across several international festivals, including the Cannes, Telluride and recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival. While the film’s plot isn’t as mainstream like the recent films, there is a sheer innocence in the plot that has attracted audiences towards ‘The Lunchbox’. And Karan Johar too shares a similar feeling.
Known to have directed films, which have been quintessentially candyfloss in nature, larger than life, Karan Johar with ‘The Lunchbox’ turns presenter and settles for a simpler yet compelling subject.
“It is the unusual romance that drew me closer to the film. It is a simple love story that connects with audiences directly”, says the director. The Lunchbox is quite mainstream but it’s a very unusual film within the parameters one sets for a love story, he adds.
While Dharma Productions isn’t producing the film, it is simply joining hands to release the acclaimed film along with UTV-Disney. It is probably the emotions and sweetness of the story that attracts the director to associate himself with ‘The Lunchbox’, which otherwise wouldn’t have seen a big mainstream release.
‘The Lunchbox’ is also expected to be a prospective entry to the Oscars this year for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’.
“It is our dream to take the film from the Oscars, but India has to select the film first, so we are hopeful”, Karan Johar says with a positive smile.
With Karan’s strong attraction to ‘The Lunchbox’, it needs to be seen if audiences are attracted to the sweetness of this Ritesh Batra film too! It’s time to get hungry on 20 September, when ‘The Lunchbox’ will hit theatres.