The Lunchbox | 4/5

SINGAPORE — In this epistolary romance, happenstance brings two unlikely people together when a lunchbox is delivered to the wrong person.

Welcome to Mumbai, where Dabbawalas (lunchbox delivery men) transport home-cooked food to the hungry stomachs of over 200,000 office-workers every day. Ila (Nimrat Kaur of Peddlers) dutifully prepares a delectable meal in the hopes of winning her passive husband’s waning affections by appeasing his appetite. A mix-up finds the lunchbox in the hands of Saajan Fernandez (Irrfan Khan of Slumdog Millionaire and Life Of Pi), a sullen and detached widower who has devoted 35 years to the claims department of a bureaucratic job.

The two begin corresponding in a charmingly old-world fashion way — handwritten notes tucked into the tiffin box that is sent back and forth each day. Enter Saajan’s officemate Aslam Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who adds a dash of humour to the unravelling plot as Ila and Saajan decide to meet.

The three leading actors deliver performances that are nothing short of excellent. With their lines kept to a minimum and nuanced gestures brilliantly performed, Kaur and Khan downplaying the weight of their palpable despondence.

Director Ritesh Batra’s first full-length feature film transcends all expectations. Its unpretentious storyline packs a powerful punch simply because of its effortlessness to please, although the story’s relaxed pace may be a slight drag to some. Batra makes no concerted effort to substantiate the motives of his characters or to provide an ending that would tie everything neatly up, leaving most of his film up to the audience’s interpretation.

The Lunchbox is not a movie about extraordinary feats or unsung heroes. Rather, it offers a peek into the mundane lives of two very ordinary people who both deal with insatiable loneliness and emotional isolation. Here is a sincere and real portrayal of life, the lengths one would go to for companionship, conformity to the tedium of lives one has settled so deeply into, and an ode to new beginnings that may spark simply from a misdelivered lunchbox and a few handwritten notes.

(PG, 104 mins)