Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, Pan Nalin’s Faith Connections and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth in different sections of  the 61st Sydney Film Festival, to be held from June 4-15.

Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, which was first screened at the festival in 1966, will be screened again.

The Lunchbox is the story of a housewife, Ila and Saajan Fernandes, who correspond to each other in letters sent inside a lunchbox. The Lunchbox has been one of the most successful Indian films in the festival circuit.

Pan Nalin’s documentary Faith Connections is set during the Hindu religious ritual Kumbh Mela, which takes place every three years at selected places along India’s river banks and is attended by about one hundred million people.

Richie Mehta’s film Siddharth revolves around Mahendra who works on street corners as a chain-wallah (a zipper-fixer). To contribute to the family income, his boy Siddharth is sent far away from home, from New Delhi to Ludhiana, where a relative has a job for him and a place to sleep. It seems like a dream come true to his father, until he realises that his son has vanished into thin air: kidnapped, perhaps, or dead. Mahendra learns how confusing the world beyond his front door really is, but that doesn´t stop him from stubbornly seeking Siddharth all over India, its cities and countryside combined.