Irrfan Khan disappointed The Lunchbox out of Oscars race

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Irrfan Khan plays a cynical government employee in The Lunchbox
New Delhi: Actor Irrfan Khan, who plays thelead in Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, today expressed hisdisappointment with the jury's decision of not choosing thefilm as India's official entry for the Oscars next year,saying "they should have done a good job".

Irrfan, 46, who also co-produced the critically acclaimedmovie, said it had the capacity to connect with the worldaudience.

"Whatever the responsibility of the body is, they shouldhave done a good job. I am just disappointed as it was a filmwith a new language and has the capacity to connect with theworld audience. That film was unique in its own way.

"If that film would have got proper importance then weshould have said that you (jury) are giving the right signal toupcoming talents, who are trying to make innovation in filmlanguage. Madras Cafe and Ship of Theseus are also thefilms with new language. They also have the capability toconnect with the universal audience," Irrfan told PTI.

The Film Federation of India-appointed committee, whichwas headed by veteran filmmaker Goutam Ghose, chose Gujaratifilm The Good Road for Oscars 2014.

Irrfan is not the only member from the film who hasexpressed his disappointment. Producers Anurag Kashyap, KaranJohar and director Batra had lashed out at the selectioncommittee for their decision.

The actor was in the capital to launch a book by Secretaryof Gujarat Tourism Vipul Mittra -- 'The Dream Chasers'.Irrfan also feels that he is chasing his dreams with eachof his film projects.

"We all are dream chasers. I am delighted that Vipuljicalled me to introduce his book to the world. When I read thebook it reminded me of my days in NSD (National School ofDrama). I am jealous of writers like him because I lost manygirlfriends as I couldn't express my feelings beautifully inlove letters," he said.

With The Lunchbox, the National-award winning actor hasalso made a comeback to the romance genre after the 2009 filmBillu.

"I always wanted to do love stories as I didn't get muchchance to do a romantic film. My idea of romance is completelydifferent. I did The Lunchbox because I knew that I will beable to touch many hearts with my film," he said.

The film is a romantic sojourn of a cynical governmentemployee, who falls in love with a lonely housewife viaexchange of letters hidden inside wrong delivery of lunchbox.