The Lunchbox is a 2013 Indian epistolary romantic film written and directed by Ritesh Batra,
and produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap, and Arun Rangachari. The film was jointly
produced by various studios including DAR motion pictures, UTV Motion Pictures, Dharma
Productions, Sikhya Entertainment, NFDC, ROH Films, ASAP Films, and the Cine Mosaic. It
stars Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. The film was screened
at International Critics' Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and later won the Critics
Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d'Or. It was shown at the 2013 Toronto
International Film Festival. The film was released in India on 20 September 2013. The
film has done well at the box office.
Plot synopsis Saajan is a lonely accountant about to retire
from his job. Ila is a young wife seeking her husband's attention, looking for ways
to put romance back in her marriage, and tries to cook her way to her husband's heart. A
neighbour who lives in the apartment above her gives her advice on cooking and marriage
through shouted instructions. Through a rare mixup of the famous "dabbawalas"(a complicated
system that picks up and delivers lunches from restaurants or homes to men at work)
of Mumbai, the lunchbox with the delicious food Ila prepared for her husband instead
gets delivered to widower Saajan. When the lunch containers are delivered back to Ila
empty, she is happy, thinking her husband had enjoyed her cooking. When she questioned
him, he did not seem to think much of it. Realizing the mistake of the delivery, she
writes a note to the recipient of her lunch thanking him for enjoying the food and sends
him her husband's favorite meal the following day.
Saajan replies saying that the food was salty. Upon advice from her neighbour, who believes
the lunch went to Ila's husband, she responds by using hot chili in a lunch that turns out
to be so spicy that Saajan resorts to eating bananas to help cool off his mouth. An exchange
of the messages sent back and forth with the lunches ignites a friendship between Saajan
and Ila who share memories and thoughts in notes passed back and forth in the lunch pails.
Meanwhile Saajan deals with a young employee, Shaikh, he is supposed to train to replace
him when he retires. Shaikh appears immature, annoying, lazy and irresponsible. On her end,
Ila feels her husband is very remote. He not only complains about her food, but she finds
out he is having an affair. Also she supports her mother as her father suffers from lung
cancer. As Saajan and Shaikh get to know each other,
Shaikh reveals that he is an orphan and has worked in several places, including Saudi
Arabia. He is currently living with his girlfriend. As he rides the train home each day after
work, he chops vegetables for their dinner on his portfolio. As Saajan trains Shaikh,
he has told him what to do and left him on his own, but Shaikh had bluffed his way into
the job and many mistakes come to the attention of the boss who calls both of them into his
office, puzzled that, after decades of service with never a mistake, so much had gone wrong.
He chastises Saajan but tells Shaikh to leave. Saajan takes the blame for all that has gone
wrong and saves Shaikh's job. This act moves Saajan and Shaikh to have a true friendship
prompting Shaikh to invite Saajan to dinner at his home with his girlfriend and asking
him to be his best man in his wedding, since he has no one else to stand up for him and
no family. In their correspondence through the lunch
containers, Ila mentions that Bhutan is a poor but happy and beautiful place where the
cost of living is much less than India. Saajan contemplates moving there with her upon his
retirement and writes back asking if she will be ready to move to Bhutan with him. Ila writes
back saying they should meet and suggests a popular food joint. She is there at the
appointed time but Saajan doesn't turn up. A dejected Ila sends an empty lunchbox the
next day. Saajan writes to her saying that he did arrive, but did not meet her because
he saw how young and beautiful she is and considered himself too old for her and advises
her to move on. Ila's father dies and as his body is taken
away, Ila's mother confesses to her that she has been unhappy for most of her marriage.
This helps Ila to feel released. She decides to search for Saajan by asking the address
where the dabbawalas sent her food and goes to Saajan's office to meet him, but there
she learns that he has retired and headed to Nashik. Ila writes a last message saying
farewell to Saajan announcing that she will leave her husband and go to Bhutan.
The movie comes to an end with Saajan returning from Nashik and going in search of Ila with
the Dabbawalas song being played in the background. Cast
Irrfan Khan as Saajan Fernandes Nimrat Kaur as Ila
Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Shaikh Denzil Smith as Mr. Shroff
Bharati Achrekar as Mrs. Deshpande Nakul Vaid as Rajiv, Ila's husband
Yashvi Puneet Nagar Lillete Dubey as Ila's mother
Production Development
Ritesh Batra, who had made short films, The Morning Ritual, Gareeb Nawaz ki Taxi and Cafe
Regular', 'Cairo, started researching for a documentary on the famous Lunchbox delivery
system of Mumbai, dabbawala, known for their efficiency, however after spending a week
with them in 2007, he got to know of many interesting personal stories they would overhear
while waiting outside an apartment. This idea gave birth to the idea of the film, and instead
of making the documentary he began writing a film script. In time the film became joint
production between Sikhya Entertainment, DAR motion pictures, National Film Development
Corporation of India, India, ROH Films, Germany, ASAP Films, France and the Cine Mosaic, US
of Lydia Dean Pilcher who previously produced films like, The Talented Mr Ripley and The
Namesake, and Germany's Match Factory became its international sales agent.
Writing Batra completed the first draft of the screenplay
in 2011. He was assisted by Rutvik Oza. It went on to win an Honorable Jury Mention at
the 2012 Cinemart at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Thereafter the project was
part of the Talent Project Market of Berlin International Film Festival and was mentored
at the screenwriter's lab at the Torino Film Festival. The character of Ila played by Nimrat
Kaur, six months prior to the shooting, and the character played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui
was further developed and improvised during shooting.
Casting Irrfan Khan liked the script of the film and
the concept of his character, not speaking much but talking through notes. After seeing
Batra's short film and a couple of meetings he agreed to act in the film. Batra wanted
to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, another principal character of the film, for a long
time. For the female lead, auditions were conducted, wherein Nimrat Kaur was selected.
Kaur had extensive experience at the Mumbai theatre and worked in films like Peddlers.
Some of the dabbawalas who the director befriended while researching for the film, also have
been cast in minor roles. Filming
The film was shot in 2012 in Mumbai at a budget of ₹100 million. Prior to the filming,
the cast rehearsed for six months. It was shot using the Arri Alexa digital film camera.
Many of the scenes were logistically broken down to make way for last minute location
changes. Mumbai's famous dabbawalas were provided actual lunchboxes to deliver, were followed
by a four member film crew, which filmed the process in documentary style.
Release and reception Screenings and film festivals
The film was screened on 19 May 2013 as a part of the International Critics' Week at
the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation and positive reviews. and
won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d'Or. Variety called
it "a notable debut from tyro helmer-scripter", for creating a film with "crossover appeal
of Monsoon Wedding", and also praised acting of Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur.
Thereafter, Sony Pictures Classics picked up all North American rights for distribution.
In India, this film was released in more than 400 screens on 20 September 2013.
Box office The Lunchbox grossed ₹71 million in its
first weekend of release in India, and ₹110 million in its first week. The film continued to gross
significant amounts over the next few weeks, earning over ₹200 million in the first three
weeks and another estimated ₹40-50 lakhs on its fourth weekend. It became 2014's highest
grossing foreign film in the United States. As of 12 June 2014, the film's U.S. collection
stands at $4.06 million. As of 28 May 2014, the film's worldwide collection stands at
84.92 crore. Critical reception
Upon release, The Lunchbox received widespread critical acclaim. The review aggregator Rotten
Tomatoes gave the film a score of 95% based on reviews from 87 critics, with an average
rating of 7.7/10. The site's consensus is: "Warm, affectionate, and sweet but not cloying,
The Lunchbox is a clever crowd-pleaser from first-time director Ritesh Batra". The review
aggregators: BollyMovieReviewz and Review Gang both mentioned that The Lunchbox received
the highest aggregate score of any Indian film earning a 4.38/5 and an 10/10 respectively.
howis.co.in rated this movie 4.5 out of 5. The rating has calculated by average rating
of all popular Bollywood critic websites ratings. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave a rating
of 5/5 to the film stating, "The greatest love stories are the ones that make you root
for the protagonists to come together, despite their destinies. This film illustrates how
love transforms the unlikeliest of people." Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph gave two
thumbs up to The Lunchbox calling it "as much a moving and muted love story as it is an
evocative portrayal of loneliness." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie
a 4/5 stating, "A well-told old-fashioned romance, The Lunchbox gracefully unknots the
trials, tribulations, fears and hopes of everyday people sans the glamour that the city of Mumbai
has become synonymous with." Karan Anshuman of the MumbaiMirror also went with a perfect
score of 5/5 saying the film was, "one of the best films to come out of India in a long
time." Raja Sen of Rediff.com praised the film further,
giving another perfect score of 5/5 and offered particular compliments to the director Ritesh
Batra, stating "Batra, who has also written The Lunchbox, has allowed his smashing actors
tremendous room to improvise, all the while himself sketching in nuanced details about
the city, its food-ferriers, and the many disparities Mumbai is crammed with." Filmmaker/critic
Khalid Mohammed of the Deccan Chronicle said "What stays in the mind at the end of 'The
Lunchbox' is pretty much what stays in mind at the end of a memorable set by jazzmen –
not their lapses but the heights they scale." Aditya Grover of YouthTimes gave it 4/5 stars
and said, "The Lunchbox is delicious and delightful! If you’re in the mood to witness genuinely
moving cinema, you’re in for a treat. The delectable taste of this lunchbox remains
in your mouth much after you’ve left the theatre. Go for it!"
Subhash K. Jha of SKJbollywoodnews.com gave 4/5 stars to the film stating, "The Lunch
Box is desolation, loneliness and perfection!" Trisha Gupta in the Sunday Guardian wrote
"The Lunchbox is a lovely little film. But it does tick all the boxes that might appeal
to festival audiences: quaint Asian urbanism, Indian home-cooking, romance. It provides
local colour, without being demandingly untranslatable." Oscar selection controversy
The Lunchbox was considered by many people throughout the year to be a lock as India's
selection for the 86th Academy Awards Best Foreign Film Category, with many critics unanimously
praising it and voting for it to be the representative film. Celebrity director Karan Johar also
put his support behind the film saying "All kinds of audience can connect with it and
yet within the parameters of love story it is completely unusual. You feel all the love
in the world for the protagonists and the unusual aspect of it is they haven't met."
However, the selection committee of the Film Federation of India deliberated on 17 September
2013 and decided to send the Gujarati film The Good Road instead. This decision sparked
outrage from many supporters of The Lunchbox, including its cast and crew. The film's producer
Anurag Kashyap quickly took to twitter and expressed his disgust, saying "I don't know
who the Federation is, but it goes to show the complete lack of understanding to make
films that can travel across borders." He later deleted both his twitter and facebook
accounts, saying, "this is a moment of defeat for me, and for independent cinema, because,
for once, our chances were great." Karan Johar also said he felt very disappointed that such
a wonderful chance at Oscar glory with The Lunchbox was spoiled. Guneet Monga, The Lunchbox's
other producer, said she was flabbergasted as to how the Federation could select a movie
that didn't even have an American distributor, and also listed the number of global festivals
and appreciation her film received, concluding that it sadly and supposedly "wasn't enough
for the FFI". In an interview with Siddharth Sivakumar of
Tinpahar, Goutam Ghose, the chairman of the committee revealed, "Personally I liked The
Lunch Box very much. But eventually the eighteen member jury supported The Good Road. Now I
can say that some people from Bombay felt that the basic premise of The Lunch Box was
wrong. Because the Dubbawalas never do such mistakes. Films are after all works of fiction,
with the right to cinematic liberty! Although Lunch Box was my personal favourite, but as
a chairman one should not impose his or her choice on others. And as you know this became
suddenly a big controversy. And I think the media was again to some extent responsible
for this decision. Because every day during the deliberation or the screenings, the media
projected Lunch Box as the chosen one. It's my assumption, that the members probably thought,
"My God! If the media has already taken the decision then why we are here?" It was a Chomskian
'manufacturing consent'- Lunch Box, Lunch Box, Lunch Box every day!! So the members,
who are all very important people from the industry, had an opposite impulse. I don't
know, but maybe that's the way it happened." Accolades
See also Bollywood films of 2013
References
External links Official Website
The Lunchbox at the Internet Movie Database The Lunchbox at Bollywood Hungama