‘I WAS A NAMELESS FACE BEFORE THE LUNCHBOX HAPPENED’

Actor Nimrat Kaur, who played the role of Ira in the 2013 movie, The Lunchbox calls the movie her “debut of sorts” despite having been part of a couple of films before. In fact, the 36-year-old actor says that she was an unknown name until the movie happened. As the film completes five years of its release today, Nimrat says she was “blessed” to be cast in the film alongside “stalwarts” Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. “I was part of a couple of films before the movie, but I don’t think anyone even knew that I was an actor,” says Nimrat, adding, “(After The Lunchbox) suddenly everything changed. I was a nameless face in the industry for so long, but after the movie, it was surreal to see people coming up to you and talking about the film. And it still happens today, that wherever I go, not just in India, but abroad as well, people come up and talk about how they liked the film and connected with it.” She shares, “Honestly, I will say that I was blessed to be handpicked by Ritesh (Batra). I was the first one to be given the script, but that time Ritesh never said anything about casting me in it. He just said that I want you to read through it, and I remember that I wanted to be a part of it after going through the first few pages of the script.”

“Ritesh and I discussed the script for days, and it was only much later, when I asked him why was he discussing the script with me so much that he told me that he has cast me in the movie. That was news to me because he never told this to me. Then he asked, ‘Oh, didn’t I tell that to you?’ And it was that simple, really,” she adds.

Nimrat reveals that the film was shot in “nine days” — something which she felt was “an organic process”.

The actor reveals that she set up the kitchen herself, in order to feel more comfortable. “It was one of the most cramped spaces that I have ever shot in. It was such a small kitchen, and with cameras all around, it was a task (laughs). But I loved doing that. I set up my own kitchen because it was my own personal space, and I just thought that the more comfortable and personal I feel with it, it will be better for me to play the character. You know a woman can work in her kitchen with a blindfold on. That’s the kind of environment I wanted to create,” she says.

PHOTO: VIRAL BHAYANI Honestly, I will say that I was blessed to be handpicked by filmmaker Ritesh Batra. NIMRAT KAUR ACTORA still from The Lunchbox