Batra is widely known for his debut feature film "The Lunchbox" starring Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Nimrat Kaur, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and won Rail d’Or (Grand Golden Rail). Batra also won the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best First Feature Film in 2014. "The Lunchbox" has been called the highest grossing foreign film in North America, Europe and Australia for the year of 2014 grossing over 25 Million USD/180 Crore INR.