Purely Joyful Movie!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

When The Lunchbox came out,I remember that focus on the film itself ebbed away,after it was unexpectedly not chosen as India's entry to the Oscars. Taking a look at what films were on the BBC iPlayer for Easter,I was delighted to see this title on the line up,which led to me opening the lunchbox.The plot:Since the death of his wife, Saajan Fernandes has put all his energy into his work. Nearing the age of retirement, Fernandes is asked to teach his upcoming replacement Shaikh the ropes of the business. Spending most of the day at home, Ila finds the spark in her marriage to have gone. Coming up with ways to get it back on track,lla decides to make dabbawalas for her husband. Unknown to lla,the delivery company send lla's meal to Fernandes,whose delight with the meal opens a new box in both their lives.View on the film:Cooking up his feature debut,co-writer/(with Vasan Bala) director Ritesh Batra & cinematographer Michael Simmonds (who was also the cinematographer on Project Nim) cut the Indian cinema extravagances for an intimate,low-key indie atmosphere. Spending 6 months rehearsing the movie and keeping to a trim 29 day production,Batra and Simmonds give the title a documentary appearance, with the office lights of Fernandes workplace and the simmering gold lights of lla's kitchen displaying their humble roots. Connecting Fernandes and lla with narration,Batra brilliantly balances "show and tell" via the voice-overs reading the letters covering the progression of the plot,whilst the lingering shots on the faces of lla and Fernandes captures the emotive changes taking place. Opening up the box,the screenplay by Batra and Bala avoids traditional Bollywood "masala" (Melodrama) to instead intelligently focus on the routines that subtly change in lla and Fernandes lives,from the resentment Fernandes has for his replacement turning into mutual respect,to lla leaving the house,and getting on a new train track in life. Building up to lla and Fernandes first encounter,the writers bravely hold back the tears for an unexpected twist which brings the exchanging letters between Fernandes and lla down to a realist level.Spending weeks living with "lla's" disinterested husband (played by a terrific Nakul Vaid) in order to build up the relationship in a method acting style, Nimrat Kaur gives a marvellous performance as lla.Opening to the outside world lla's letters to Fernandes,Kaur gradually builds lla's independent strength to look with new eyes at the outside world. Introducing Fernandes by showing him firmly stick to a daily routine, Irrfan Khan displays an incredible subtle touch in expressing Fernandes anticipation of finding a new lla letter in his lunchbox.

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

Rarely an Indian film without its trademark dancing-and-singing routines, director/writer Ritesh Batra's feature debut marvellously utilises the exotic "dabbawalas" system of Mumbai, which is an intricate lunch delivery service to people at work from their their homes or restaurants and is remarkable for its accuracy, but Batra fictionalises a little mix- up of the system and links two strangers into an epistolary communication, and from there, their penfriend-ship will further sublimate into something more genuine and profound.Saajan Fernandes (Khan) is a middled-aged widower on the brink of early retirement as a senior accountant, he is withdrawn, cynical and tries to dodge the responsibility to train his new replacement Sheikh (Siddiqui). One day his colourless life is revitalised by a mis- delivered lunch-box which he vastly enjoys. The lunch-box is made by Ila (Kaur), a housewife who attempts to win the her husband's heart through her cuisine. When Ila realises the delivery blunder, instead of righting the mistake, she starts to leave a note to this stranger in the lunch-box and Saajan writes back too, steadily, they exchange their own stories and life philosophy, which becomes the enzyme of a blossoming romance since both find a conduit and a confidant to change their disappointing status quo. Like YOU'VE GOT MAIL (1998, 7/10), THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940), the two protagonists are destined to meet sine they are not like Helene Hanff and Frank P. Doel in 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD (1987) who are divided by the Atlantic ocean and deferred by a difficult economy situation. It is quite easy for them to meet when all the romantic buildup reaches its threshold, Ila finds out her husband is cheating on her whereas Saajan gets close with the orphan Sheikh, takes him as his protégé, and is ready to turn a new chapter of his life. But Batra refuses to hold out such an easy pass for their significant first meeting, for the sake of narrative twist, he wields the "sudden" epiphany of age difference as the obstacle to morally righteously curb the passion from Saajan's side. And from then on, the film descends into a limbo of indecision, through Saajan's capricious determinations, it actually reflects Batra's insecurity of how to consummate the story in an unconventional way, as his first feature, his endeavour fails to achieve that goal with the over-contrived open ending.Performances are uniformly pleasant to watch, Khan's goggled eyes alone can patently exhume his deepest inner feelings to an affecting effect. Kaur, also downplays the default setting of an under-appreciated wife and evinces her steely resolution of a woman doesn't yield to an unhealthy marriage. Siddiqui's Sheikh. comes around often as comic relief with an inherent optimistic spirit, registers a well-developed balance of humour and earnestness.The film's retro flair in rediscovering the magic power of authentic writings is naturalistic-ally endearing to endorse, and "sometimes the wrong train takes you to the right station", is the motto conspicuously referred three times along the whole movie, THE LUNCHBOX is a rarity among the usual Bollywood products, its message can reach unanimously to every soul who is inspired to find its rightful purpose, and its art-house appeal can lure those who are disinterested in Indian cinema (like myself) into its poetic embodiment of an unusual encounter.

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.