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| Banner | DAR Motion Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures, Dharma Productions, Sikhya Entertainment, NFDC |
| Director | Ritesh Batra |
| Writer | Ritesh Batra |
| Producer | Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga |
| Music Director | Max Richter |
| Cinematography | Michael Simmonds |
| Film Editing | John F. Lyons |
| Art Director | |
| Camera Operator | |
| Assistant Cameramen | |
| Playback Singers | Kumar Sanu |
| Character | Actor/Actress |
| Saajan Fernandes | Irrfan Khan |
| Ila | Nimrat Kaur |
| Shaikh | Nawazuddin Siddiqui |
| Ila's Mother | Lillete Dubey |
| Rajeev | Nakul Vaid |
| Auntie | Bharti Achrekar |
| Yashvi | Yashvi Puneet Nagar |
| Mr. Shroff | Denzil Smith |
| Mehrunnisa | Shruti Bapna |
| Nasir Khan | |
| Lokesh Raj | |
| Sadashiv Kondaji Pokarkar | |
| Aarti Rathod | |
| Krishna Bai | |
| Raj Rishi More | |
| Santosh Kumar Chaurasiya | |
| Swapnil Shirirao | |
| Avijit Khanwilkar | |
| Aakash Sinha | |
| Xavier Hodges | |
| Rosemary Hodges | |
| Hubart Vossoaker | |
| Rosemary Vossoaker | |
| Flory Vossoaker | |
| Sebastian Vossoaker | |
| Quitira Vossoaker | |
| Baaburao Sankpal | |
| Chandrakantha Rajani | |
| Kancha Karki | |
| Rajendra Dubey | |
| Narendra Arora | |
| Ashwin Desai | |
| Mahesh Mahadev Salavkar | |
| Krishna Mandal | |
| Calvin Desilva | |
| Craig Narona | |
| Kyeron Kandoria | |
| Shubh Jadav |
| Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan) is a widower who is about to retire from his job as an accountant. Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is a young wife seeking her husband's (Nakul Vaid)'s attention and looking for ways to put romance back into her marriage; one of which is to cook delicious food for him. Through a rare mix-up of the famous "dabbawalas" (a complicated system that picks up and delivers lunches from restaurants or homes to people at work) of Mumbai, the lunchbox Ila prepares for her husband gets delivered, instead, to Saajan. Ila eventually realizes the mistake and with the advice of her neighbor aunty (Bharti Achrekar) living in the apartment above her, writes a letter to Saajan about the mix up and places it in the lunchbox (along with her husband's favorite meal) the next day. An exchange of the messages sent back and forth with the lunches ignites a friendship between the two, as they share memories and events of their own individual lives. At work, Saajan is tasked with training his replacement, Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), an orphan whose incompetence initially annoys Saajan, who is already socially distant since his wife's death. Saajan and Shaikh gradually get to know each other better and strike a close friendship as well. At one point, Saajan saves Shaikh's job by covering for his blatant mistakes on pay orders and he also becomes his best man at his wedding with Mehrunissa (Shruti Bapna). At home, Ila finds out that her husband is having an affair and she begins to give up hope on her marriage. In one of the lunchbox letters, she suggests moving to Bhutan where the cost of living is much less than India. Saajan writes back suggesting that the two move there together. Ila then offers to meet in person at a popular food joint, but at the appointed time Saajan doesn't turn up. Upon receiving an empty lunchbox the next day, Saajan writes back to the dejected Ila and apologizes, saying that he did arrive and saw her from a distance but couldn't approach her. He explains how young and beautiful she looked, while surmising that he is too old for her and advising her to move on. Some time later, Ila's father, battling with lung cancer, dies in her mother's care. After her mother (Lilette Dubey) confesses how unhappy her marriage was, Ila decides to search for Saajan, but then learns from Shaikh that he has already retired and headed to Nasik. She writes a last farewell message to Saajan announcing that she has decided to leave her husband and move to Bhutan with her young daughter. Meanwhile, Saajan changes his mind en route to Nasik, returning to Mumbai and going in search of Ila who is last seen at home waiting for her daughter to return from school as he gets help from the same dabbawala who regularly picked up and delivered the eponymous lunchbox. |
| Release Date | 20-September-2013 |
| Budget | ₹ 22 crore (US$3.3 million) |
| Revenue | ₹ 100.85 crore (US$15 million) |
| Star Guild Awards: Nominated: Best Film - Anurag Kashyap, Arun Rangachari and Guneet Monga Best Director - Ritesh Batra Best Actor - Irrfan Khan Best Actress - Nimrat Kaur Best Screenplay - Ritesh Batra Best Story - Ritesh Batra Best Female Debut - Nimrat Kaur Won: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Star Verdict Performer of the Year - Irrfan Khan Asia Pacific Screen Awards: Won: Best Screenplay - Ritesh Batra Jury Grand Prize - Ritesh Batra Asia-Pacific Film Festival: Nominated: Best Film - Ritesh Batra Best Director - Ritesh Batra Best Actor - Irrfan Khan Best Actress - Nimrat Kaur Won: Best Supporting Actor - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Best Screenplay - Ritesh Batra Outstanding Achievement Award - Irrfan Khan 8th Asian Film Awards: Nominated: Best Film - The Lunchbox Won: Best Actor - Irrfan Khan Best Screenwriter - Ritesh Batra Dubai International Film Festival: Nominated: Best Film - Feature - Anurag Kashyap, Arun Rangachari and Guneet Monga Won: Special Mention - Feature - Ritesh Batra Best Actor - Feature - Irrfan Khan Filmfare Awards: Nominated: Best Story - Ritesh Batra Best Editing - John F. Lyons Best Sound Design - Michael Kaczmarek Won: Best Film (Critics) - Ritesh Batra Best Debut Director - Ritesh Batra Best Supporting Actor - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Ghent International Film Festival: Nominated: Canvas Audience Award - Ritesh Batra International Critics' Week: Won: Grand Rail d'Or (Viewers' Choice Award) - The Lunchbox International Indian Film Academy Awards: Nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role - Nimrat Kaur Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Best Story - Ritesh Batra London Film Festival: Nominated: Best Film - Ritesh Batra Oslo Films from the South Festival: Nominated: Best Feature - Ritesh Batra Reykjavík International Film Festival: Won: Church of Iceland Award - Ritesh Batra Screen Weekly Awards: Nominated: Best Film - Anurag Kashyap, Arun Rangachari and Guneet Monga Best Actor - Irrfan Khan Best Actress - Nimrat Kaur Best Supporting Actor - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Best Screenplay - Ritesh Batra Best Story - Ritesh Batra Won: Most Promising Debut Director - Ritesh Batra Zee Cine Awards: Nominated: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Nawazuddin Siddiqui Best Story - Ritesh Batra Won: Best Debuting Director - Ritesh Batra British Academy Film Awards: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film - Ritesh Batra |
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