Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Ali Ahmad
Actually i enjoyed this movie and wanted to give 8.5/10 but imdb works in whole number so no worries. It was really a good movie and i don't know how i missed this piece from long time. I don't watch Bollywood movies that much because this makes me regret but this time was whole different. So, this movie is as wonderful as it seems in the trailer.
Revant Teotia
"The Lunchbox", Ritesh Batra's debut movie is an Indian romance in which a neglected housewife - Ila(Nimrat Kaur), and a widowed office worker - Mr.Fernandes(Irrfan Khan) communicate via hand written letters in home cooked meals.Ila is a typical Mumbaikar house wife who launders her husband's shirts by hand and cooks lunch which is supposed to be derivered to him through Mumbai's elaborate delivery system "Dabbawalas".Mr Fernandes is a typical office man who has been working in the same office, keeping accounts using ruler and pencil, without complaints or errors. There is another character Mr.Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who is Mr Fernandes's designed replacement. Mr.Khan is an orphan which sustains on a few pieces of fruits on lunch and an unlimited supply of positive thinking which represents striving of lower class Indians scrambling toward the middle class.The romance between the two strangers starts with the exchange of letters, because of a little glitch in the "dabbawala system", which invokes a little ray of hope among the lonely persons. Both Ila and Mr.Fernandes are so desperate for genuine human interaction that they find themselves sharing their innermost sentiments and philosophical thinkings. Where Ila, in a try to find happiness, decides to move to Bhutan, while Mr.Fernandes tries to find happiness in the belongings of her long gone wife.Irrfan Khan has done a wonderful acting, doing more with moments of scilence than many actrs can manage with pags of dialog. The story is touching, incredible, and a urban tale of hope in the face of disappointment. Although it takes place in Mumbai, the film style is more Hollywood than bollywood. It is somewhat predictable but is presented in a fairly standard rom-com model.
keerti_anand
Can confusion ever lead to love? Most of us would not believe it, but the movie lunch box advocates exactly the same. When Lonely Housewife Ira who in the hope of winning over her ignorant husband prepares the finest of tiffins for him, destiny has other ideas as the lunchbox keeps getting delivered to the widower Saajan(Irfan Khan). The movie is an absolute entertainer. Saajan falls in love with a woman he has not even met, just by communicating with her by passing letter in the lunchbox which itself plays a key role in uniting these two. The movie is a sublime combination of supreme acting, excellent direction and phenomenal background score. Actor Nawazzudin Siddiqui also plays an integral part in the film and entertains the audience with his gimmicks. The depiction of the dabbawallahs of Bombay is also very accurate and vivid. Overall, the movie teaches the message that love need not depend on looks, language, ethnicity, all that is needed for love is love itself.
markwood272
Saw this DVD 7/26/15. Rather than repeat a synopsis, some random thoughts after a first viewing (and there will be more): 1. The setup is a little like "Pillow Talk" (1959). The movie starts out with the makings of a "cute meet." But it becomes clear early on that Ila is not Doris Day, and Fernandes is not going to be anything like Rock Hudson.2. There is considerable suspense: Will Fernandes ever smile? And will Ila meet him? 3. Suspense grows as we await the thawing of Fernandes' heart. But anticipation of a meeting between dabba correspondents gradually gives way to something deeper, as "Lunchbox" comes into its own not as love story or romantic comedy, but as a parable of adult life, which only begins once a person has lived long enough and through enough to ask, "Is this all there is?" Bhutan beckons. It seems to be all these two people have left. Bhutan, with its measure of Gross Domestic Happiness, borders Lenny's "fat of the land" in "Of Mice and Men" (e.g.,1939), or Candide's El Dorado. There have been "lonely crowd" movies before, but Mumbai's populace is quite a crowd, and Ila and Fernandes such a lonely pair. 4. The cinematic apparatus (shot duration and selection, cutting, lighting) works effectively but does not intrude. I only minded the occasional single-note piano cue signaling moments of character introspection. Unnecessary, but I guess that's show business. 5. I saw Irrfan Khan in "Life of Pi" (2012). I could see he was a superior actor but found that the character scripted for him did not let him show what he could do and be on screen. Fernandes, at once someone unforgettable, someone we all have known somewhere sometime, and also someone we fear to become, is a demonstration of his skill. This is my first film with Nimrat Kaur in the cast. Her performance reminded me of Madhabi Mukherjee's title character in "Charulata" (1964) or the same actress as Arati in "Mahanagar" (1963). She makes a perfect lunchbox correspondent for Khan's Fernandes. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Shaikh works well with Khan. He sold more than just Shaikh. He gave reality to Fernandes through the relationship between the two characters, demonstrating that acting is interacting. 6. Aside from "Pillow Talk", the movie brought to mind movies such as "Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud" (1995), "The Crowd" (1928), and "Chungking Express" (1994) as well as obvious intersections marked by Satyajit Ray's "Mahanagar", "Charulata", and "Nayak, the Hero" (1966). Also to be found on the same page is "Chachaji, My Poor Relation: A Memoir by Ved Mehta"(1978). Many others.7. In a world of on demand movie viewing, whether online, DVD, cable, or whatever, every viewer is a motion picture academy of one. I keep my own list of best pictures. "Dabba" is on it.
