{"id":636101,"date":"2026-10-20T08:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636101\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T08:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:26:09","slug":"after-haiwaan-saif-ali-khan-to-star-in-the-lunchbox-director-ritesh-batras-period-drama-hindi-movie-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636101\/","title":{"rendered":"After \u2018Haiwaan\u2019, Saif Ali Khan to star in ‘The Lunchbox’ director Ritesh Batra\u2019s period drama | Hindi Movie News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"After Barely a month has passed since Saif Ali Khan<\/a> held audiences on edge in the taut thriller \u2018Haiwaan\u2019, and he is already preparing to leave that world behind for the grandeur of a period drama. After years of balancing mainstream blockbusters and notable work on streaming platforms, the actor is now set to collaborate with director Ritesh Batra<\/a> on his upcoming film. Batra earned international admiration with \u2018The Lunchbox\u2019 (2013), a delicate story told with warmth and restraint, and he has since remained a filmmaker who finds drama in quiet moments and ordinary emotions.<\/p>\n

Why Saif Ali Khan suits Ritesh Batra\u2019s stories<\/p>\n

According to Mid-Day, the film has been in pre-production for some time. Both Saif and Ritesh are huge admirers of each other\u2019s work. And Saif is the perfect fit for Ritesh\u2019s soft, subtle stories.<\/p>\n

Saif Ali Khan\u2019s film to start shooting this week<\/p>\n

The film is expected to begin shooting in Mumbai later this week. According to reports, the makers are aiming for a compact schedule and intend to \u201cwrap up the intimate period drama in one go\u201d. Alongside this untitled project, Batra is also busy giving final touches to the opening two episodes of the upcoming Netflix series \u2018Unaccustomed Earth\u2019, featuring Freida Pinto and Siddharth.<\/p>\n

Is Saif Ali Khan\u2019s period drama Batra\u2019s earlier project?<\/p>\n

Some time ago, Batra was reportedly lined up to direct a cross-country love story headlined by Anil Kapoor, though the plan was later put on ice. With the specifics of his collaboration with Khan still undisclosed, there is no clarity yet on whether this period drama is a revival of that earlier idea or an entirely separate film.<\/p>\n

Saif Ali Khan and Ibrahim\u2019s banter on Instagram<\/p>\n

Recently, Saif has officially joined Instagram, and his first post is already winning hearts. The actor made his debut with a set of pictures taken inside the Pataudi library, and the post created quite a buzz online. His son, actor Ibrahim Ali Khan<\/a>, was as surprised as the fans, and the playful exchange between the two has caught everyone\u2019s eye. Ibrahim seemed taken aback and asked, \u201cIs this you, Abba, no na?\u201d Saif answered by sharing an old childhood picture of Ibrahim, asking whether the little boy in it was him in May 2008. Ibrahim went along with the joke and replied, \u201cI guess so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barely a month has passed since Saif Ali Khan held audiences on edge in the taut thriller \u2018Haiwaan\u2019,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,66458,39330,409,111,139,69,311852,14080,311853],"class_list":["post-636101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-haiwaan","tag-ibrahim-ali-khan","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ritesh-batra","tag-saif-ali-khan","tag-the-lunchbox-director"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}