It's been a year and eight months since his directorial debut, opened. It is still playing in certain parts of the world. But for Ritesh Batra, it's time to move on.

Sitting in a Mumbai café, over a second cup of cappuccino, he reveals that he's working on two projects simultaneously. Photograph, set in Mumbai, is the story of a photographer, and for it he'd love to go back to Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur.

The other, an adaptation of a novel for a British producer, is a coming-of-age story about two older people rediscovering themselves. No, it's not a Ruskin Bond novel but may have an international cast.

“I can't talk about either yet. But someday, I'd like to have a public reading, even publish the script before I make the film,“ he muses. That may be foolish as someone could steal the plot and make a film before his. “But it won't be the same film,“ Ritesh says confidently.

He admits that it takes a lot of time to put a project together, from getting finances to finding the right actors. “I'm hoping to roll with one of them this year,“ he says. What if he can greenlight both? “That would be a miracle but it won't happen,“ he shrugs.

The Lunchbox started with the idea of a woman trying to fix her marriage through cooking, then he thought what if she could fix someone else's life too and Irrfan's character came along, who in turn goes on to fix another guy's life. “Writing is like moulding clay--you don't know if it'll shape into a glass or a pot. My job is to tell Indian stories to the world,“ he states.

Photograph could be his next film but Ritesh himself never liked photography. “For me words are the starting of a movie, not images. I made The Lunchbox myself because nobody else would hire me as a writer,“ he says candidly.

This Saturday, it'll be competing for a BAFTA, alongside films he's loved, like the French-Italian-Belgium film, One Day Two Nights whose leading lady, Marion Cottilard, he'd like to work with someday.

He might have been at the Oscars too had the selectors not sent The Good Road as India's official entry in the Foreign Language category. It's journey ended prematurely while The Lunchbox was playing everywhere from the UK and the US to Europe and Japan. “These international platforms can help Indian films become global players. One person's success is everyone's success,“ he says.

He points out that while India makes 900 films a year, it has made the Oscar shortlist only thrice with Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan which got selected almost by 'fluke.' Whereas countries like Israel and Argentina with just 12 films annually make the grade consistently, even wining Oscars. “Our selectors need to study the process carefully, ensure their choices meet global standards. My consolation is I'm young and they're old. So if I can control my smoking and drinking, maybe some day I can be at the helm of affairs and in time bring about the necessary changes.“