Review of The Lunchbox (2013) by Ray H — 02 May 2014

This is a very good movie. It is a slice-of-life type of story. We have an older bookkeeper guy planning his early retirement. We have a wronged wife who has a philandering husband. The two principals of the story meet via an exchange of lunch boxes. We see a complex lunch box delivery service in action. Apparently many wives make a lunch for their husbands which is delivered by a well-oiled delivery industry. Those reusable lunch boxes are also retrieved and returned to their owners later in the afternoon. The story is set in Mumbai, a city of 20 million.

The movie gives us a detailed view of the crowded city. People commute to work by train, bus, pedi-cab, and/or motorized taxi. The trains and buses are packed; back-to-back and belly-to-belly. In all this crush of humanity we also see the isolation of individuals.

The movie is shot to show only parts of apartments, work places, and other location sites. We see one work room of our accountant hero and the lunch room. Our heroine is seen in her kitchen by the window. We see her dual hot plate and the adjoining window. Our hero's home is shown as the entry gate and his upstairs, outdoor patio.

There is a sub-plot involving a young man who is hired to be trained by our retiring hero. Their interplay and evolving relationship adds depth to the story.

The lead male character, Saajan (Irrfan Khan), is very, very good in a subtle, understated manner. The wronged wife, Ila (Nimrat Kaur), is suitably beautiful. She is much younger than our hero. This is a cause of some concern for him. Will these two get together or not? And, will they be able to emotionally connect, given their age difference?

There is some gentle humor worked in. Some of that involves Ila's auntie who lives in an apartment directly above her. They talk out the window and pass/share food and music through their windows. The two offer one another support and company through the window.

The story fully engaged my interest. It is a simple story that drew me in. There is plenty to ponder and savor here. I was rooting for the characters. The ending is not pat. There is some complexity introduced. I did not find the ending fully satisfying. But, it resembled a real life circumstance.

It was a good trip to the flics.