The Lunchbox (2013)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Better Late Then Never

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The best movie I've been fortunate to watch this year. Definitely gonna re-watch it - no choice. I wish I could see the real ending. But that's life. You don't always get what you want,but its open ended one we could decide whether they meet or miss each others... really like this movie #plot#background music# outstanding act

Indian cinema, courtesy of Bollywood, is generally associated with massive production values and glitz and glamour, so it's telling that the country's most critically revered film of 2013 was one so unassumingly intimate and small. Director Ritesh Batra (making an impressive feature debut)'s The Lunchbox is a thoroughly charming affair – too melancholy to live up to its marketing as a comedy, but brimming with heart and humanity, and a story that is both geographically precise and truthful yet broadly accessible to all.It stands to reason that Batra initially conceived of the film as a documentary following the exploits of Mumbai's Dabbawalas, or lunchbox delivery service, as the film pulses with a fundamentally genuine spirit in all aspects. The unshowy verisimilitude permeates both the intricacies of the on-location shoot, captured in all its bustle of movement and colour (the Dabbawalas undertaking their immaculately choreographed workplace deliveries and amiably singing between deliveries are clearly unstaged), and the emotional beats of the story alike. Batra allows a quiet, gentle voice-over romance ('epistolary' is your word of the day) to bloom, unhurried, like flower petals slowly extending towards the sun, without shoehorning in any mawkish sentiment or plot contrivances. This is not Hollywood, however, and easy gratification is as elusive as snappy dialogue. Batra is more interested in allowing his characters to breathe, musing on the oppressive, subtle weight and sadness of unexpected aging, and how small, genuine gestures can cumulatively bring people together or drive them apart. He utilizes clever graphic matches to establish parallelism, sometimes cheekily, but it's his only hint of artifice in a film that otherwise feels welcomely old-fashioned yet fresh, honest, and fun.As an effective two-hander, the film's dual leads do phenomenal work in substantiating the relaxed yet emotionally rich feel throughout. Irrfan Khan is a master of saying volumes with only the slightest arch of an eyebrow or downward curve of his mouth, and, despite looking far too young to embody a retiring widower at only 46 (a poignant commentary in itself…), his gently commanding presence infuses his initial cantankerous exterior with both radiant sadness and impish gleams of hope. Nimrat Kaur is equally fantastic, wearing melancholy but decisive action around her like a shawl. Although we're given more time with Khan, it's Kaur that steers the film, tenaciously prodding her fraying life into shape, and it's captivating to see an actor convey so many dancing, conflicting thoughts and motivations without any evident performance tics, making her performance the essence of credible, and sprinkled with dashes of the driest wit. Nawazuddin Sidiqui also lends great support as Khan's chirpy coworker and eventual successor. Despite bringing many of the film's laughs, Sidiqui is careful to build himself enough of a character, and tragic backstory of his own, to never feel like a comedic relief plot device; conversely, he rounds out the clumsy trifecta of broken people stubbornly trying to bludgeon his life into taking shape. Elegantly elegiac and perfectly heartwarming, The Lunchbox is that rare film festival darling that feels wholly fresh and unassuming, without a whiff of cloying falsehood whatsoever. Despite the film's central metaphor of 'even the wrong train will sometimes lead to the right station', Batra's film proves that sometimes appearances aren't deceiving – a film marketed as intimate, wholesome, and delightfully cute can be just that, no strings attached. Now: who's hungry? -8/10

I just love this Film the actors the story and way it's directed, a must see film, i have been in India and i was amazed by the lunch box delivery and how it works, and how theses people used to manage to get it on time, traveling every where in mumbai, but the person who got the idea to make a beautiful story out of it is just a genius, Nimrat Kaur the next door girl yet a real Indian beauty and a great actress, no one could be better in then Irfan Khan again an other great performance of this great actor, Irfaan Khan proves every time he plays that his one of the best bollywood actors, an other surprise in this film Nawazudine siddiqi, this man is just unbelievable he is a hell of an actor waaaw i guess that he still going to play some breath taking characters in the futur.

Saw this DVD 7/26/15. Rather than repeat a synopsis, some random thoughts after a first viewing (and there will be more): 1. The setup is a little like "Pillow Talk" (1959). The movie starts out with the makings of a "cute meet." But it becomes clear early on that Ila is not Doris Day, and Fernandes is not going to be anything like Rock Hudson.2. There is considerable suspense: Will Fernandes ever smile? And will Ila meet him? 3. Suspense grows as we await the thawing of Fernandes' heart. But anticipation of a meeting between dabba correspondents gradually gives way to something deeper, as "Lunchbox" comes into its own not as love story or romantic comedy, but as a parable of adult life, which only begins once a person has lived long enough and through enough to ask, "Is this all there is?" Bhutan beckons. It seems to be all these two people have left. Bhutan, with its measure of Gross Domestic Happiness, borders Lenny's "fat of the land" in "Of Mice and Men" (e.g.,1939), or Candide's El Dorado. There have been "lonely crowd" movies before, but Mumbai's populace is quite a crowd, and Ila and Fernandes such a lonely pair. 4. The cinematic apparatus (shot duration and selection, cutting, lighting) works effectively but does not intrude. I only minded the occasional single-note piano cue signaling moments of character introspection. Unnecessary, but I guess that's show business. 5. I saw Irrfan Khan in "Life of Pi" (2012). I could see he was a superior actor but found that the character scripted for him did not let him show what he could do and be on screen. Fernandes, at once someone unforgettable, someone we all have known somewhere sometime, and also someone we fear to become, is a demonstration of his skill. This is my first film with Nimrat Kaur in the cast. Her performance reminded me of Madhabi Mukherjee's title character in "Charulata" (1964) or the same actress as Arati in "Mahanagar" (1963). She makes a perfect lunchbox correspondent for Khan's Fernandes. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Shaikh works well with Khan. He sold more than just Shaikh. He gave reality to Fernandes through the relationship between the two characters, demonstrating that acting is interacting. 6. Aside from "Pillow Talk", the movie brought to mind movies such as "Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud" (1995), "The Crowd" (1928), and "Chungking Express" (1994) as well as obvious intersections marked by Satyajit Ray's "Mahanagar", "Charulata", and "Nayak, the Hero" (1966). Also to be found on the same page is "Chachaji, My Poor Relation: A Memoir by Ved Mehta"(1978). Many others.7. In a world of on demand movie viewing, whether online, DVD, cable, or whatever, every viewer is a motion picture academy of one. I keep my own list of best pictures. "Dabba" is on it.