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The Lunchbox

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The Lunchbox

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Summary

Romantic drama starring Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur. Every day in Mumbai, a legion of "Dabbawallahs" take hot meals from the homes of housewives to their menfolk in the city. But once in a while, a lunchbox finds its way to the wrong person. And when that happens to soon-to-retire Saajan Fernandes, it develops into an unlikely friendship with Ila, who is trying to spice up her cooking for her disinterested husband.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Despite being dependent on a whopping contrivance, writer/director Ritesh Batra's debut exudes wit, warmth and charm. Demonstrating in an opening montage how the 5,000-strong dabbawallah (or box-carrier) service gets lunch pails from housewives to husbands across the teeming city of Mumbai, Batra makes use of a rare delivery error to engage Saajan (Irrfan Khan), a grumpy, soon-to-retire claims accountant, in a relationship by letter with Ila (Nimrat Kaur), who has enlisted the help of her upstairs neighbour (Bharati Achrekar) to tantalise the taste buds of her husband (Nakul Vaid) in a bid to rekindle their marriage. Intrigued by the note Ila encloses when the mistake is repeated, the widowed Saajan replies and the pair share secrets, hopes and fears, as Ila discovers that her husband is being unfaithful and Sajaan slowly warms to the eccentric newcomer (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) he is supposed to be training to take his place. Without fetishising the dishes, Batra keeps the focus on the food and the notion of variety being the spice of life. But it's the way he, cinematographer Michael Simmonds and editor John Lyons convey urban alienation and aloneness that makes this beautifully acted picture so affecting.

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7.8/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameSaajan FernandesIrfan KhanIlaNimrat KaurShaikhNawazuddin SiddiquiMr ShroffDenzil SmithMrs DeshpandeBharati AchrekerRajeevNakul VaidYashviYashvi Puneet NagarIla's motherLillete Dubey

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Crew

rolenameDirectorRitesh Batra

Details

Theatrical distributor

Artificial Eye

Released on

2014-04-11

Languages

English | Hindi

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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