Like 2 negatives multiplied make a positive, can sanguinity emerge when two melancholic lives intersect? Can a misdelivered dabba connect people better than the 24x7 online messaging systems? Is Bollywood actually coming off age where parallel and real cinema is merging with commercial? You are certainly going to find all these answers in affirmative in débutant director Ritesh Batra's 'The Lunch Box'. This movie is more of a journey through the hearts and lives of its central characters wherein you literally feel their emotions and experience the anxiety of the unknown next. Without delving much into the details of the storyline, let me share my views on various facets of the movie:
Plot: 'The Lunch Box' is like a blanket made of wool of solitude of the 2 central characters and a little dash of heart-filled humor by Nawazuddin's character, woven manually on a frame called Mumbai. Batra takes you through 2 major lifelines of the city of dreams – local trains and dabbawalas. However, life of the movie is the platonic relationship that develops between Saajan and Ila over the reels and how this new feeling sprinkles drops of water over their dry and dreary routines, melts the snow of somberness Saajan dons initially, rejuvenating the soft-man in him and in parallel gives hope and confidence to Ila to break- free from mental and societal shackles. Nostalgia is in the air intermittently and takes the audience too, down their memory lanes through old songs and serials.
Cast: There could have been no better and apt a star-cast than this! Watching adept Irrfan and latest sensation Nawazuddin in the same frame rekindles the Naseer-Om effect. Irrfan looked every bit of an old man nearing superannuation, exuding the required poise, irritability, lost-looks, slow reflexes, walk and talk, et al! Nawazuddin is endearing with his irritating yet lively presence and adds tadka of entertainment to the plain lunch. However, the revelation of the film is theater- actress Nimrat Kaur. Man! She reminds you of the realism brought on screen earlier by adroit Shabana and Tabu. To know her caliber, compare her glam avatar in the Silk ad aired these days with the diametrically opposite Ila where she plays a lonely, insecure, simple (no-makeup) housewife. She has literally lived the character on-screen. Bharati Achrekar is lovable even without being physically present.
Cinematography: The realism created by believable locations is another high-point of the movie, whether it is the typical government office or congested flats and societies or the life in locals. Full marks to Michael Simmonds (the man behind camera for 'Paranormal Activity 2') for his lens-work.
Music: Except for the Tukaram prayer (hardly an obstruction) recited by Dabbawalas, 'The Lunch Box' is a song-less movie. Full marks for the same.
Climax: Movie ends a bit unconventionally which does not go well with the expectations of a section of audience. It's a bit open-ended and leaves a lot to the imagination of viewers. However, we are slowly getting used to such endings in B-town movies now, which aren't necessarily the 'They lived happily ever after' types.
To conclude, this lunch-box is a completely fulfilling homemade feast with mesmerizing aroma of class performances and poignant story. Kudos to the joint producers - UTV, Dharma (of Karan Johar), Sikhya (of Anurag Kashyap), DAR and NFDC, for shelling money for such a creation. Ye lunch to definitely restaurant (theater) me khana banta hai boss!
Plot: 'The Lunch Box' is like a blanket made of wool of solitude of the 2 central characters and a little dash of heart-filled humor by Nawazuddin's character, woven manually on a frame called Mumbai. Batra takes you through 2 major lifelines of the city of dreams – local trains and dabbawalas. However, life of the movie is the platonic relationship that develops between Saajan and Ila over the reels and how this new feeling sprinkles drops of water over their dry and dreary routines, melts the snow of somberness Saajan dons initially, rejuvenating the soft-man in him and in parallel gives hope and confidence to Ila to break- free from mental and societal shackles. Nostalgia is in the air intermittently and takes the audience too, down their memory lanes through old songs and serials.
Cast: There could have been no better and apt a star-cast than this! Watching adept Irrfan and latest sensation Nawazuddin in the same frame rekindles the Naseer-Om effect. Irrfan looked every bit of an old man nearing superannuation, exuding the required poise, irritability, lost-looks, slow reflexes, walk and talk, et al! Nawazuddin is endearing with his irritating yet lively presence and adds tadka of entertainment to the plain lunch. However, the revelation of the film is theater- actress Nimrat Kaur. Man! She reminds you of the realism brought on screen earlier by adroit Shabana and Tabu. To know her caliber, compare her glam avatar in the Silk ad aired these days with the diametrically opposite Ila where she plays a lonely, insecure, simple (no-makeup) housewife. She has literally lived the character on-screen. Bharati Achrekar is lovable even without being physically present.
Cinematography: The realism created by believable locations is another high-point of the movie, whether it is the typical government office or congested flats and societies or the life in locals. Full marks to Michael Simmonds (the man behind camera for 'Paranormal Activity 2') for his lens-work.
Music: Except for the Tukaram prayer (hardly an obstruction) recited by Dabbawalas, 'The Lunch Box' is a song-less movie. Full marks for the same.
Climax: Movie ends a bit unconventionally which does not go well with the expectations of a section of audience. It's a bit open-ended and leaves a lot to the imagination of viewers. However, we are slowly getting used to such endings in B-town movies now, which aren't necessarily the 'They lived happily ever after' types.
To conclude, this lunch-box is a completely fulfilling homemade feast with mesmerizing aroma of class performances and poignant story. Kudos to the joint producers - UTV, Dharma (of Karan Johar), Sikhya (of Anurag Kashyap), DAR and NFDC, for shelling money for such a creation. Ye lunch to definitely restaurant (theater) me khana banta hai boss!