The Lunchbox – Movie Review by Abhirup Dhar

Halfway through ‘The Lunchbox’, Saajan Fernandez (played brilliantly yet again by Irrfan Khan) who is offered a vertical burial place writes to his ‘girlfriend’ (as he calls her), “I have spent my Life standing in trains and buses. Now I will have to stand even when I

am dead.” Debutante Director Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Lunchbox’ is off-beat but a very endearingly entertaining film soaked in charming old-fashioned romance and clever humour (not slapstick and dim-witted; something I rarely enjoy).

Young neglected home-maker, Ila (Nimrat Kaur) lives in present-day Mumbai with her husband (having an extra-marital affair) and daughter. She spends time all by herself either washing clothes while listening to the radio for food recipes or cooking meals. Her only companion is an aunty who lives upstairs, never seen in the movie; only heard… and boy! She is hilarious! One day, Ila cooks a delicious meal for her husband and sends it through a dabbawala. Luck has something else in store for her and the lunchbox is wrongly delivered to Saajan Fernandez (Irrfan Khan), a cranky middle-aged widower about to retire from his accounting job of 35 years. They are different but have something in common – both are very lonely and hollow people. Thus begins an exchange of paper notes daily through the lunchbox between the two protagonists (Ila writing in Hindi; Saajan replying in English) which blossoms into an indescribable relationship… Love that loosens up Saajan and makes a confident woman out of confused Ila.

Director Ritesh Batra’s first attempt is easily among the finest to come out in the recent past. He handles the simple yet brilliant story, the characters and the relationships with such rare maturity that you are bound to applaud him. Batra seems to be in love with Mumbai. He knows his craft well and uses every bit of it to capture the city and doesn’t miss out on a single detail. So you travel with the dabbawalas on their way from kitchens to offices; you are with the characters when they are in a local train, taxi or auto. This is how a movie should be directed. You should not be able to describe it in words and Batra offers you just that. The effect lingers in your mind even after the movie is over (the last such movie experience I had was ‘Lootera’ this year itself). I haven’t watched ‘The Good Road’ but I’m disappointed ‘The Lunchbox’ didn’t make it to the Oscars as India’s entry. Though I don’t consider it important for an Indian movie to win that award, ‘The Lunchbox’ had very good chances of grabbing it.

Irrfan Khan continues to raise the bar for himself and just when you watch him in a movie and think it is his best performance, he proves you wrong very soon. Awesome… Exceptional… A Class Act… Extraordinary! Sorry, I need to coin a new word to describe his minutely detailed performance here. I had never even heard about model-turned-theatre actress Nimrat Kaur and here she is; surprising you with such a terrific performance. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (as Saajan’s junior in office) in a supporting role is outstanding yet again and funny too.

Watch it or not: A must must-watch (!) for connoisseurs of good cinema. ‘Lootera’ (never mind if it didn’t bring in the moolah at the BO) still remains my pick of the year so far but ‘The Lunchbox’ comes very close to it.

At the Box-Office: It will do well in urban centers. Business will grow due to the fantastic reviews and word-of-mouth. The release has been limited and the budget is low; these are factors in favor for the film’s decent collections at the BO. I’m expecting it to be an above average commercial success.

• About the Author

About Abhirup Dhar

I don't watch movies... I live them! Let me introduce myself. Abhirup Dhar was born in Kolkata and is still being brought up in India. A banker by profession, he is filmy to the core and is passionate about reviewing movies and writing. He likes to live on his own… he likes to be blunt, sarcastic, famous, infamous, confident, over-confident, moody at times… he likes to be himself. He is imperfect because perfection is boring. His love for movies dates back to his childhood days when he studied in a boarding school. A three-month Winter Vacation every year… and he made sure he watched as many movies then. Parents thought it was a phase... he knew it was Passion and he knew it back then itself. The craziness to watch movies on the Big Screen began during the last two years of school when he literally bunked to town so that he could catch up with the new Hindi Movie releases. Some thought he was plain crazy. He confirmed it was Passion... yet again. The hard fact is that not always can you walk a path you are passionate about. You have expectations to fulfill and Life to be made. But Life gives you chances and you have to grab them. So... here is he... your friendly critic who will be giving you his Verdict every week so that you can decide which release is worth your moolah and which is not! See you at the Movies! Stay connected at Facebook and Twitter!