Jeevi rating: 3.5/5
Punchline: savour it!
Banner: Utv Motion Pictures, Dharma Productions, DAR Motion Pictures & Sikhya Entertainment
Genre: Romance/Drama
Cast: IrrfanKhan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nakul Vaid, Bharti Achrekar, Denzil Smith
Cinematography: Michael Simmonds
Music: Max Richter
Editing: John F. Lyons
Direction: Ritesh Batra
Producers: Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga, Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur & Arun Rangachari
Release date: 20 September 2013
Theater watched: Screen 2, PVR Cinemas, Hyderabad

Saajan Fernandez (Irrfan Khan) is a Government employee who is on the verge of voluntary retirement in Mumbai. He is a widower and leads a lackluster/mechanical/suppressed life. Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is an average lonely housewife. Her husband is nonchalant about their relationship which makes Ila more lonely. Due to a mistake of dabbawalla, the lunch box that is supposed to go to her husband lands up in the office table of Saajan. She realizes that the box is going to a wrong person. They start communication with messages in lunch box. The rest of the story is all about a sweet relationship between two lonely people of opposite sex.

Irrfan Khan plays a character that is not only retiring from the job, is retiring from his life as well. The Lunch Box comes as a hope to him in a life which otherwise is tasteless and insipid. Irrfan Khan makes his mark again in this role. Nawazuddin Siddhiqui does the role of an sweet rookie youngster who wants to make big in life with his little schemes, but is good at heart. I liked the way he says ‘good afternoon sir’ in a bid to impress his boss. Nimrat Kaur represents the lonely housewife who wants to get the attention of her husband. She gains a lot of sympathy with her realistic portrayal of character.

It’s nice to see competent debutant directors going for parallel cinema instead of commercial potboilers in Bollywood. Ritesh Batra excels as a story writer and director with Lunch Box. He makes the characters very endearing. The mostly-invisible neighbor aunty of Ila who communicates everything using varied techniques, the cricket-playing kids who fear Saajan, the relationship between boss and assistant - all these things are captured in a beautiful way. The dialogues ‘Kabhi Kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pohocha deti hai!’ is an apt one that abets the feelings between Ila and Saajan. This dialogue is effectively used between the lead characters. Chartbuster songs from 90’s Tum To Thehre Pardesi (Altaj Raja) and Saajan title song are effectively used in the movie. Radio plays a character in this film with it’s recipe lessons and melodious songs.

Unconventional form of falling in love is the subject of the film. We have seen strangers fall in love by writing letters, making phone calls and chatting on internet. Lunch Box is romantic story between two lonely strangers - a young woman seeking love and appreciation and an old-man leading a morbid life. The entire film is realistic. It’s nice to see big brands like UTV, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap joining hands together to make a film that has chances to get nominated for Oscar from India. Lunch Box makes a perfect addition to your collection of world cinema.