Ritesh Batra's next sells out internationally

Ritesh Batra

"The Lunchbox" director Ritesh Batra's second feature titled "The Sense of an Ending", starring Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent, has sold its worldwide rights.

Ritesh Batra

FilmNation Entertainment, which holds worldwide rights of the film, completed international sales at Berlin's European Film Market after the screening of a promo of the drama, which struck a strong emotional chord with buyers.

Batra, currently busy in the post-production of the film, said in a statement: "It's been a real pleasure to adapt Julian Barnes's great novel to the screen. I loved working with the writer Nick Payne.

"These are exciting times as the film has sold all over the world. I do believe that it is a matter of time before we make Indian stories with great Indian actors that will travel more than or as much as English language cinema does."

In major deals, Sony has acquired Latin America and Eastern Europe; Wild Bunch has closed France, Germany, Italy and Spain; StudioCanal took Britain; and Fox International Channels has acquired Pan-Asian pay TV rights.

Longride (Japan), Roadshow (Australia), Svensk (Scandinavia), Mediasoft (South Korea), and Lumiere (Benelux) have picked up the drama that also stars Harriet Walter and Emily Mortimer.

Among other territories closed are Greece (Spentzos), Israel (Lev), the Middle East (Italia), Portugal (Lusomundo), Switzerland (Frenetic), Turkey (Aqua), Hong Kong (Edko), India (PVR), Indonesia (Prima Cinema), Singapore (Shaw Renters) and South Africa (Ster Kinekor).

Adapted by award-winning playwright Nick Payne from Julian Barnes's Booker prize-winning novel "The Sense of an Ending", the film stars Broadbent as a recluse who is forced to face the devastating legacy of his first love and revise his understanding of his own nature.

Apart from Broadbent, the film stars Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling, and is co-financed by BBC Films and produced by Origin Pictures.