The Lunchbox (2013)

The Lunchbox (2013)

A love letter to Mumbai and a gentle, enchanting romantic drama

The Very Best

8.9

Movie

Canada, France
English, Hindi
Drama, Romance
2013
RITESH BATRA
Bharati Achrekar, Denzil Smith, Irrfan Khan
104 min

What it's about

A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system (Mumbai's Dabbawallahs) connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality.

The take

"Sometimes even the wrong train takes you to the right destination". In this thoughtful feature film debut by Ritesh Batra, we follow a lonely Indian housewife, Ila (Nimrat Kaur), as she tries to come to terms with a cheating husband, a stale relationship, and a dying father, while seeking love, attention, and appreciation through her cooking. One day, she sends out a special lunch to her husband, but her delivery goes to the wrong address. Spicy food is complemented with a spicy note and thus begins an unlikely and unique romance through the letters she packs in the lunchbox day after day. The man on the receiving end is Saajan, a middle-aged office worker, played by Bollywood star Irrfan Khan. With its delightful characters and beautiful acting, this was a huge success in India, but there is no reason to believe that this bittersweet, Mumbai-based story couldn't be a hit anywhere in the world.

Comments

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Hilary and Jackie (1998)

Two sisters, bound by music, is torn by genius and fame in this tragic, heartwrenching biopic

7.6

The Breaking Ice (2023)

Three lost souls find a warm connection in this wintry, delicate drama

7.0

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Lars von Trier breaks his rules in the tearjerking first film of the Golden Heart trilogy

8.1

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023)

A cynical, but terribly honest portrait of the indignity of modern life

7.9

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

A Silent Voice (2016)

A coming-of-age movie that circles around friendship and the atonement of a boy

8.7

Wind River (2017)

Sicario's screenwriter directs this story of murder in an Indigenous reserve

9.4

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.