Amor a la carta

To be able to write an involving story on something considered impossible is the hallmark of a good writer. 'The Lunchbox' is based on such a story surrounding the dabbawalas of Mumbai.

One mistake that brews a terrific relationship between two strangers, so delicately portrayed through the exchange of letters. There are only three actors in this film and each has delivered a stellar performance. None of them have many dialogues, but their expressions and motions depict their character in such an excellent manner, you wished there were even fewer lines! Irrfan proves with every new film that he in fact is the best 'Khan' of Bollywood and Nawazuddin can just not disappoint. He's used his GoW success to break into films such as this one and done justice to each role. Nimrat Kaur's simplicity throughout the film looks so effortless and yet so unbelievable for the Bollywood of today, which is ever so increasingly synonymous of excessive glamour and fashion.

Cinematography is average, but again, this isn't a 'visual' movie, it's more of a story. Direction looks great as Ritesh has been able to get the best out of his cast. Well, you'd have to try real hard to have Irrfan and Nawaz amidst your cast and yet churn a flop, but the director does deserve some credit.

In my opinion, this is the second best film of the year after Madras Cafe. I haven't seen Bhaag Milkha Bhaag though, so that might change things for me. Either way, this is in no way a bore or a drag as the film keeps you hooked onto the amazing story line and individual performances.

Enjoy!

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.

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.

Once Rabindranath Tagore says about 'short stories'...

"Simple events of life happy or sad,/ Some sad strings from the train of forgetfulness,/ Not fraught with heavy descriptions,/ Not crowded with events,/ No advice, no philosophy/ Only the feeling that the story is not yet over/ Although there is no more to read..."

'The Lunchbox' is a perfect example of a unique 'short story'. A little love story with some little events and pain... but at the end there is a new beginning.

The story is about a lonely old widower and a young neglected house wife. They connected through a lunch box and some letters, and share some emotional thought and experience of there daily life with each other. They are totally stranger to each other, but love has found out it's own way to enter.

There is a basic question about "Love"... 'Is it possible to fall in love between two strangers'? "The Lunchbox" defines it brilliantly... 'Love has no definition and it never follows any rules. So there is a possibility to fall in love with somebody whom we never meet. People loves to fall in 'Love' again and again, it may be someone we know or don't know or whom we already loved with'.

Irfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are acted very well through out the movie. Direction of Ritesh Batra is just too much perfect. After interval, the movie is a little bit slow, may be it's a situational demand. Overall it's an wonderful experience.

Lastly, the best part of the movie is 'The Ending'. "Only the feeling that the story is not yet over, although there is no more to read". There is something unspoken in this movie. It depends viewers to viewers, where they actually like to go with "Sajan & Ila".

Strongly recommend to all cine goers... please watch it...

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.