Lunchbox

The Lunchbox(Movie -2013) Review - The movie "The Last Samurai" ended with a quote something like "We all seek some small measure of peace, and few of us ever find". After many years "The Lunchbox", a movie from a completely different background and culture echoed the same thought to my ears, really it is never too late to start your life again. You can expect the movie will be a gem as you have the two best character-artists of this decade – Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing the lead roles. However I didn't expect Nimrat Kaur will also give such an awesome performance as I never followed her before except "Cadbuy Dairy Milk-Silk adds", and I apologize for my ignorance sincerely! Nimrat was equally great. This movie can be an excellent demonstration of what extraordinary performance really means in any acting-learning institute of any part of the world, trust me on this!!!

The start of the story - A frustrated housewife prepares an excellent lunch for her husband with great care. But unfortunately (or fortunately!), it reaches to an equally lonely person on the verge of retirement - Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan) whose wife died long back. This simple cross connection by Mumbai Dubbawalas in the age of digital era starts a beautiful and interesting romantic relationship however ending of which has been kept open-ended for our own imagination. At the same time we can see an excellent equation and emotional turmoil building up between Saajan /Irrfann, the serious and lonely parting boss and Shaikh/Nawazuddin, his future replacement, who is funny and enthusiastic and quiet opposite to his boss.In some cases Nawazuddin has overshadowed Irfann too! The direction was superb, specially the depiction of the supply chain of the Mumbai Dabbawalas through the city is just extraordinary.Hats-off Ritesh Batra for his unbelievable first time direction.

Disclaimer: This movie is 4.5/5 from me, 0.5 is deducted only for its little slow pace , otherwise it in an extraordinary story about very ordinary lives. To me, this movie deserves all the critical appreciations it has received both in India and Outside. Avoid only if you really hate slow paced realistic depiction about everyday common lives of Tom,Dick and Harry and expect only superheroes doing superhuman activities; otherwise this is a "MUST WATCH"!

Must watch with a full stomach, else you'll have a watering mouth every five minutes while watching the plot. India is a country where we give utmost importance to food & family. This story, packed in a Lunchbox, comes to your table & gives you a flavor of Indian ethnicity & the emotions we go through in everyday life !

The overcrowded local trains, Harvard certified Mumbai Dabbawalas, Amidst busy working hours, an irritating yet likable junior And the best friend "Aunty" to a direction less housewife

All this should be enough to drag you to the cinema house & enjoy the spicy curry in the LUNCHBOX.

The first glimpse of the movie , promises you that it is't a 'just another regular bollywood movie', its refreshingly Fresh and New.

The beauty of the entire film lies in the subtlety, whether be it the story, the the actors, characters their mannerisms(when their lips quiver on getting excited, their long and deep searching eyes, the half smiles on the edges, when Ila first time presumes her husband to have an extra-marital affair). Again all of these things are very much there without they saying it explicitly so.

Very rarely you come across a movie that moves at a comfortable pace, not trying to either rush or stagnate itself at any point. The TG for this movie is definitely not people across all age groups as the producers claim, but it's specially for those who are happy or contented without searching for that something extra in their everyday lives. It doesn't talk about any extra ordinary accomplishments of individuals, nor does it talk about destiny, life or happiness. It just talks about very simple human behavior, when it comes to falling in love.

The end may or may not disappoint you...its very subjective(personally I was a lil), but yea you can tailor your apt end based on whether you are a optimist or a pessimist.

Lunchbox review: Note: Don't open this Dabba if you don't like slow paced movies!!

After a long time i have watched a Bollywood movie where in the movie makes you think about your life and how it can buzz past you before you realize it and that if you don't start to enjoy the small things like the bendi ki sabji, you will be made to eat Aloo Gobi every day (Just kidding) As they say in the movie "Sometimes the wrong train takes you to the right destination" ie Every cloud has a silver lining!!

The story revolves around a misplaced dabba (Trivia: Dabbawala's supposedly have a low error ratio, i.e "one mistake in 8 million deliveries."!!) Irrfan Khan has done a tremendous job both in acting and narrating the story. Nimrat Kaur(the Dairy Milk Silk girl!! ) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui fit their characters perfectly and have done a wonderful job portraying their roles. The only downside is that the pace of the movie is bit slow. But if they had edited it further it would have been a 1hr episode!

The Gujarati film "The Good Road" must have been really good to beat this to be the India's entry into the Oscars.

Rating: I will go with ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ /★★★★★ for this wonderful film.

An old saying repeated in Ritesh Batra's charming The Lunchbox is that sometimes the wrong train will bring you to the right station. In this case, however, the train turns out to be a dabba (lunchbox), wrongly delivered by a dabbawala to a middle-aged government claims adjuster on the brink of retirement. It works out well even though, in reality, with about 5,000 dabbawalas in the city of Mumbai who deliver more than 130,000 lunch boxes each day, they rarely make a mistake. Written by Stefan Tomke in the mode of You Got Mail, Ila (Nimrat Kaur), a young housewife dutifully prepares a lunch for her emotionally distant husband every day and has it sent to him via the courier.

On the advice of her upstairs Auntie, Mrs. Deshpande (Bharati Achreka), Ila tries to have her husband notice her by putting more spice in the food. When it is wrongly delivered to Saajan (Irrfan Khan, Life of Pi), however, a series of unintended consequences unfold. What begins with a short note from Sajaan to Ila that "the food was salty today" develops into a series of exchanges passed back and forth in the lunchbox everyday in which the two open up to each other about their lives, memories, and their hopes and dreams for the future. A subplot involving Aslam Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), an aggressively upbeat successor to Sajaan, adds a touch of humor to the proceedings but also serves to draw a contrast between himself and the grumpy Saajan.

Both Aslam and Sajaan become more endearing, however, as the film progresses. While the ending may thwart expectations if you are used to having all the pieces neatly fit together, The Lunchbox mixes food and romance in a very appealing combination, removing any doubt that Ila and Sajaan have moved to a new level. Impeccably acted and beautifully realized, the film provides an honest appreciation of what it is like to live in Mumbai without exploiting its poverty for Western audiences. Though the wrong train may indeed bring you to the right station, ultimately there is no wrong train and no right station. As The Lunchbox demonstrates, there is just the train and the journey, and it's all perfect.