One of Bollywood’s most critically acclaimed actors, Irrfan Khan won the best actor for his brilliant performance in ‘The Lunchbox’ at the 10th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival, The Times of India reported today. Irrfan won the award on Friday in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature category, while the films writer-director Ritesh Batra got a special mention for the film’s screenplay which is about a lunch box that becomes a symbol of hope for two strangers. World renowned Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur headed the jury. Another Indian director, Sandeep Ray won the best director award for his Bengali language film 'Shirno Bahu' (Thin Arms)' in the Muhr Asia Africa shorts category.

 

The film is about an octogenarian woman who undergoes treatment for a debilitating medical condition. Commenting on this year’s event, the DIFF chairman Abdul hamid Juma said that the sense of community this year was palpable: “After 10 years, we are seeing recurrent visitors, both film professionals and cinema lovers, from the region and beyond. This year we celebrated the gains that have been made in Arab cinema in the past decade, the result of years of work from our team to discover, nurture and promote talent from the Arab world." "There is a feeling that Arab cinema has 'arrived,' with increasing numbers of Arab films on the world stage, winning awards at the most prestigious festivals, and gaining currency even with audiences who have never visited the region," he added.