Most rom-coms or romantic dramas feature some important mistake or miscommunication. This is often vital in connecting the leads, as is the case here. The Lunchbox is based around a mix-up caused by the dabbawalas (a Mumbai food delivery system that collects lunches from homes to deliver to people at their workplace - like a personalised UberEats), and it's arguably as plausible and effective as any other plot device I have seen used in this genre.
Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is a young housewife hoping to regain the attention of her husband (Rajeev, played by Nakul Vaid) by reaching his heart via his stomach. She hopes to do this by making some truly delicious lunches, infused with great taste and heaped spoonfuls of love (the latter being metaphorical, of course). Unfortunately, the lunches end up going to Saajan (Irrfan Khan) instead. Saajan is heading towards his retirement, but not before he has to train his replacement, Aslam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Letters are soon being exchanged, starting a proper connection between Ila and Saajan that will deepen over time, and at least one cold soul starts to thaw as they are forced to interact more with some people who help to show some of the many pleasures that life can still offer.
I'm not familiar with the work of writer-director Ritesh Batra, nor would I call myself anywhere near familiar with the varied and rich selection of films made in India (although I have seen some great ones over the past few years, and need to start getting better at taking note of directors and stars), but The Lunchbox sounded like something I might be entertained by. I was right. I think there are one or two contrivances used to maintain the premise throughout, but the central characters are so easy to root for that you soon stop thinking of any flaws in the logic to focus on the hope that circumstances can bring the two together for more than just lunchbox letters.
Considering his role as the elderly, and wiser, figure, I assume that Khan is someone already well-known to those who have enjoyed far more Hindi-language movies than myself. He's quite wonderful in his role, whether being obstinate and abrupt with people or finally allowing for some joy in his life. Kaur is a wonderful co-star, especially while she gets to be the heart and warmth of the movie (assisted in a number of amusing scenes by the disembodied voice of "Auntie", a superb vocal performance from Bharati Achrekar) as she looks to make some positive changes in her life. Siddiqui is also very good, delivering a performance that avoids him being too much of an irritation even as Khan's character views him that way. Vaid is suitably easy to view dispassionately, and Lillete Dubey, Denzil Smith, and Shruti Bapna all do their bit in shaping the paths of our leads.
Although it's a romantic drama, The Lunchbox is also a look at characters who maybe just need advice and support more than they need a relationship. I didn't watch this and automatically think that this man and woman had what was needed to complete one another, but that didn't have me any less invested in their journey. Some may be a bit disappointed by the third act. I thought it was exactly how it should be. Lovely stuff, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
9/10
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