After wowing the audience with the critically acclaimed and award winning directorial debut, Lunchbox, Ritesh Batra will direct, The Sense of an Ending starring the Academy Award-winning British actor Jim Broadbent (known for films like Topsy Turvy, Iris, Moulin Rouge, Paddington, Cloud Atlas, The Iron Lady and Harry Potter series).

Based on Julian Barnes’ Booker Prize-winning novel, the film follows a retired man who receives an unexpected letter from a lawyer that forces him to confront his own past — and unfulfilling present — including the suicide of his childhood best friend. The film marks Nick Payne’s first screenplay. Payne’s Broadway play “Constellations” led by Jake Gyllenhaal got a Tony nomination.

The English language film will be shot in the UK later this year.

FilmNation, which has a spate of Cannes market titles this year including films from Tom Ford and Pedro Almodovar, holds worldwide rights and will co-finance with BBC Films. Origin Pictures’ David Thompson and Ed Rubin are producers.

Ritesh Batra said, “I am thrilled to adapt one of my favorite novels to screen and to work with a great team. Julian Barnes’s characters are an important part of my life and work, and I am very much looking forward to spend time with them, and with Jim Broadbent whom I have always admired.”

The Lunchbox has been showcased in various film festivals including The Cannes Film Festival, The Telluride Film Festival, The Toronto Film Festival and The London Film Festival etc. It has won various awards like Viewers Choice Award at the International Critics’ Week, Best Film at The London Film Festival and The Filmfare awards, to name a few. It won an award of Best First Feature in 2014 by Toronto Film Critics Association and was nominated for the ‘Film Not in the English Language’ category of the BAFTA awards.