fahimay An Irfan Khan movie with a singular name, two aspects which affirmed that this would be an unusual movie. Actually it was more like a short story. I've heard about dabbawalas from my brother in law who marvelled at the flawless networked delivery system , and was pleasantly surprised to get a peek into the process. Though the plot is based on mixed delivery, I feel inclined to excuse the screenwriter because the mix-up triggers an interesting storyline. We get to experience a refreshing letter exchange in the era of Watsapp messages. I didn't understand why 'Ila' wrote in Hindi and Irfan corresponded in English; did love his enunciation though. The movie moves at a slow pace, with emotions speaking more than dialogues. The insecurities of a disconsolate housewife and soulless widower are unfolded one by one throughout the movie. There is nothing cinematic like drastic transformation of character, and that makes the screenplay more effective. A good watch for a leisurely afternoon.

imtiaz "The Lunchbox" is simply a masterpiece. Ritesh Batra's directorial debut in feature length film is in all way a successful one. The film serves you Mumbai in all its beauty and simplicity. The film brings you joy in ways which you won't be able to explain. That is why even after end you will wish the film to just continue. Irrfan Khan as "Saajan" is in his best. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur were disarmingly natural and poignant. I am sure all the characters will remain with you for a long time.The story is simple and realistic. Though the world famous 'Dabbawalas' are famous for their accuracy still somehow the lead characters' lives get involved with each other. Maybe Batra wants to give a message to everyone that even when the odds of finding love is almost against you you should take your chances. Screenplay is just enough to glue the audience to their seats even if for a moment we ignore the stellar performances and Batra's direction.Cinematography is good but not certainly the best. Again this film is not meant to be visually stunning. I really liked the editing. Especially the portions when both Saajan and Ila were somehow listening to the same songs at a time. (again chances of something like that happening is almost none). The end is really something. Batra has given the full autonomy to the audience for imagining how things might have panned out after that. This film proves again or actually should say that it cements the fact that for a good cinema you need a good story and everything else comes secondary to that.

ahujarajiv The Lunchbox ★★★★★★★★★★ How does one start writing about a movie that has been spoken and written about so much already...?!! I have rarely had writer's block but today morning this is my third attempt. So instead of writing what I should, I am just going to plainly write about an experience that was entirely mine...The Lunchbox is actually not just a movie. Well not for me, at least.It is a complex mirror to many of the questions that we all have in our hearts, forced to hide or forget them in the mundane routines of our daily lives.Some are questions that we never dare ask in the open... or aloud.Let me add that what I witnessed on the night of watching this movie was probably the greatest acting ensemble I have had the good fortune of witnessing from Indian cinema.You are not just watching Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nimrat Kaur, Lillet Dubey...You are watching the tired, broken, lonely Mr Fernandes (his first name is a wonderful revelation) played so wonderfully by Irrfan that you will see all this in his face like it was being read to you. This performance is way up there...! And writing this brings tears to my eyes, if you really love the art of cinema as deeply as some of us do... I could write much more but that would take away from the brilliance of his performance.Shaikh played by Nawaz, the orphan who has made it in life on his own, who is to replace the soon to be retired Fernandes in his office, and who will move you to tears with his smiles and his eyes. His outlook at life, his loyalty for Fernandes will move you. Nawaz was always a great actor. But with The Lunchbox he actually goes beyond just acting. There is this line he says, "Meri maa kaha karti thi..."... When it hits you, you will only say to yourself - AMAZING...!! and Ila... the woman who wants only to be recognized by her husband. No one else. Her entire life is her husband and her child. And how she has been driven by an unappreciative cheating husband into becoming a nobody, just another face in this city of millions... Her life forces her to ask the question, "Does a woman, married with a child, unloved, deserve a second chance?" Nimrat, if this is her first movie I don't know what she will do by her 10th...Somewhere Ila's mother comes in for a few minutes (Lillete Dubey, you surprise me each time...!) and says things that will shock you with their harsh truth. But said so simply that you will realize that this is how most relations end up eventually....There is Mrs Deshpande, who you will never see. But you will hear her words, saying so much so simply.There are the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, studied by Harvard, appreciated by the 'England Ka Raja' (Prince Charles would be mighty pleased...) who are probably the most complex and almost flawless delivery system in the world working without any modern technology. Their simple lives and routines will touch your soul if you have ever been to Mumbai and witnessed their magic...There is the City of Mumbai. With its teeming millions, its trains and buses and its autos, an island city bursting at the seams. With its bustling life, its office-goers and workers filled with daily routine, beautiful old bunglows, its roads at night that never sleep, its narrow streets filled with life, its veins with ambition. It is indeed the City of Mumbai that holds the movie together. If you have been to Mumbai, you will feel all these emotions and more...And there is Life itself and second chances. The Lunchbox is all about second chances.There are two kinds of people who will walk out of the theater. One who will yawn and say nice things movie about the movie without really grasping the true essence of this masterpiece. They will post a new status on whats app, face-book or twitter. But not really peek into the heart of the characters and feel...And then there are those few who believe that there is still more to life...Those who will want to believe that the Dabbawalas of Mumbai worked their magic once again...That life is indeed about second chances. And that the Art of Cinema has risen to levels like never before with this masterpiece.They will feel what I felt.

avital-gc-1 This film was a refreshing surprise. I taped it, so I gave it a chance, expecting a romance based on a "wrong address" (Think Doris Day and Rock Hudson). It's far better than that, however. The "dabba" food system in Mumbai is a spider-spread delivery system of home food made by wives for their husbands. It even appeared in an academic publication as a non-failing system. And yet, it failed... A grumpy widower, an accountant in a crowded room of a company, receives the delicious food of a young married woman, whose husband hardly notices her. She has a daughter and an aunt living in a floor above her. (The aunt appears in the movie only through her voice. ) The widower becomes somewhat friendly with his future substitute at the company, a great character. But both protagonists are lonely. The error becomes clear right away, but nobody wants to fix it. The two exchange written notes, and influence each other in unexpected ways. Lovely and recommended.