A Fabulously Sumptuous Treat
Film: The Lunchbox
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddique
Directed by: Ritesh Batra
Duration: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: * * *
* *
The
protagonist in The Lunchbox wistfully laments “We forget things if we have no
one to tell them to” Truer words were never spoken. Directed by Ritesh Batra,
the film has several moments, dialogues and scenes where nothing is said but
yet it stays with you long after the film is over. It’s time to uncork a bottle
of champagne and celebrate one of the best films you’ll ever get to see.
Moreover,
it is so heartening to see that films like these are being made and are
reaching out to the audiences. Here’s more power to the spirit of independent
films and things can only get better if the likes of Karan Johar add their
voice to it. Viva!
The film
touches upon on love, loneliness, nostalgia, longing and which better city than
Mumbai to tell the story. Mr. Fernandes (Irrfan, super brilliant) is an
accountant who is on the verge of retirement. He lives all alone, leads a
lonely life and his wife is long gone. In another part of the city, we have Ila
(Nimrat Kaur, excellent) who is trying to bring the spark back in her marriage.
With considerable help from her neighbor who is heard not seen (the distinct
voice of Bharti Acherekar), she cooks a dabba
(tiffin) for her husband.
The problem
is, instead of going to her husband, the tiffin lands on Mr. Fernandes table.
Gradually, the two start interacting by sending letters to each other in the
tiffin. A trainee accountant (Nawazuddin Siddique) joins his office and the joy
those letters bring in his life makes Mr.Fernandes a more friendly man. Even
the neighborhood kids start liking, not that he was a person otherwise, he was
just more reserved.
There are
strange and simple things in life that can make one happy to the extent of
changing his or her personality.
Adoor
Gopalakrishnan’s Mathilukal (Walls,
1989) was about a jailed man who falls in love with a lady in the next compound
but never meets but here Batra uses the city to tell a story that is more than
about just two individuals.
In one of
his epistles, he tells Ila that he has been offered a vertical burial plot – “I’ve
spent my life standing in trains and buses and now I will have to stand even
when I’m dead.” he laments. And what could be a better description of the city
–“There are too many people and everyone wants what the other has” he says.
Virtually
every scene in the film offers more than just what is shown or said. And it is
not a serious film all the way, take the dabbawallah scene where he argues with
the Ila that even Harvard university came to see them and so did English
royalty!
On the
technical front, it is exquisitely shot by Michael Simmonds with razor sharp
editing by John Lyons. Nimrat Kaur as the housewife has delivered an extra
ordinary performance. She has captured all the nuances of her character with
precision. You would expect Nawazuddin Siddique to nail it and of course he
does. Irrfan Khan however dishes out more than you expect. His performance is
in the league of the best you have ever seen on the silver screen.
Do what you
please but don’t miss The Lunchbox.
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