The Lunchbox

(Dabba)

In select theaters
February 14^th 2014

104 minutes

Hindi
English

India
France
Germany

A Middle class housewife Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day's lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys.

starring...

Irrfan Khan

Saajan Fernandes

Nimrat Kaur

Ila

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Shaikh

Denzil Smith

Mr. Shroff

Director

Ritesh Batra

Screenplay

Ritesh Batra, Rutvik Oza

Music

Max Richter

Editing

John F. Lyons

Cinematography

Michael Simmonds

Production Design

Shruti Gupte

Set Decoration

Akshi Kapoor

94% on the CINEMETER

STL

96% - Feb 9, 2014

A truly wonderful film! Although he decided too late, it was inspirational when he decided to live, not retire to what seemed like the “final station.” And reaching out to others will help. I hope they find each other, but even if they don’t, they did help make the other’s life better! Can certainly see the documentary-style in aspects of lunchbox and transit system.
St. Louis Member

A wonderful film! Film shows that one can’t thrive as a human being without believing that someone cares. It is essential that someone care. It is essential in shaping one’s perspective on life. “One forgets when one has no one who’ll listen.” It’s not “wrong train, right station.” Instead it’s wrong building, right man.
St. Louis Member

Wow. I loved the intersplicing of the music—using the same song (the hot arrangement) for each side of the story. The use of metaphor for life and death and everything in between was so artfully done. Loved it.
St. Louis Member

Acting, writing, editing all good, and the cinematography was wonderful, from the shots of the basket from Auntie to the mirror reflection of Ila as she talked to her husband.
St. Louis Member

I loved this movie. There was tension and anticipation in all the right places. It made me see my own life in a special and meaningful way.
St. Louis Member

MIL

95% - Feb 9, 2014

This is a wonderful example of what Indian cinema can be outside the constraints of Bollywood--e.g., no musical numbers. Heartfelt, three-dimensional performances.
Milwaukee Member

Great start to the season. Great glimpse into Indian life and our interconnectivity. Loved the exchange of letters.
Milwaukee Member

What a thoughtful and sweet film about communication and connections. I thought it was great.
Milwaukee Member

Thought it was very interesting. I cared about the characters.
Milwaukee Member

ATL

97% - Feb 9, 2014

Charming! Perfect way to start the season. Great romantic chemistry for a couple that never have a scene together. Now I'm off to find some Indian food for lunch.
Atlanta Member

One of the best films I've seen at Cinema Club and I've been coming for a long time.
Atlanta Member

Really delightful movie. I thought the whole lunchbox pickup, delivery and return system was fascinating. I still would have liked to see the documentary!
Atlanta Member

Fantastic take on isolation in the midst of millions of people and creating connections.
Atlanta Member

This is the Indian version of HER. How do you define a relationship in a modern world where all of the "norms" you have been raised on disappear.
Atlanta Member

i loved the organized chaos of the lunchbox system, the 'oracle' auntie and the main actress, so watchable you forget to read the subtitles.
Atlanta Member

BOCA

91% - Jan 19, 2014

Loved, loved, love it! Put you in a place you/we don't go.
Boca Raton Member

Made me hungry for chicken tikka and vegetab;e biryani and Saag Paneer and Garlin Noon and Chicken Masala.
Boca Raton Member

What a great movie! Who thinks of these stories and puts them together!
Boca Raton Member

This was a delightful way to start my day!
Boca Raton Member

If Satyjat Ray were alive today, he might make a film like this!
Boca Raton Member

A great commentary on life, love, marriage, and aging! Gives a person things to think about.

Boca Raton Member

98% - Jan 26, 2014

A perfect movie. Absolutely beautiful: cinematography and acting and story line couldn't be better. Auntie's off-screen performance - and her magical basket of goodies - should get an award.
San Francisco Member

Beautifully realized, with three great actors, especially Irrfan Khan, who is a treasure. The character of Saajan has little dialogue, all the acting is done with facial expressions, but watching him come alive through the relationship with Ila, even though only through letters, was touching.
San Francisco Member

What an original screenplay - subtly unfolding these lives through letters. I like the ending, which was realistic, and not melodramatic or Bollywood. Bring on more "anti-Slumdog Millionaire" - the more the better!

What a great start to the season - the post-film comments and conversation were very enlightening and rewarding. I will be talking up "The Lunchbox" with my friends.
San Francisco Member

Wonderful, poignant film. It's "You've Got Mail," with curry. Now I am hungry.
San Francisco Member

91% - Feb 2, 2014

I wanted to run out to eat at an Indian restaurant before it ended - my mouth was watering!
Washington, DC Member

The sounds throughout were amazing in their depiction of humanity and intimacy amidst the clang and clamor of Mumbai.
Washington, DC Member

I want to know if they met and then lived happily after - I hope they met and liked each other and lived happily ever after - no, I know they met and did live happily ever after!
Washington, DC Member

In spite of my usual film bias against Indian film, I thought this was terrific.
Washington, DC Member

Now I know the origins of internet dating.
Washington, DC Member

Achingly sweet and touching - it touched my heart and left me with a lump in my throat and unleashed tears that could not be held back. The ending was lovely!
Washington, DC Member

I thought the film captured so thoroughly a sense of India and it's work and family life while being fully a work of fiction - gentle with out being sentimental.
Washington, DC Member

I liked the narrative device of the letters and character development - the slow warming of Sataan and Ily's decision making - and that Auntie remained only the "voice."
Washington, DC Member

95% - Feb 2, 2014

Street life and office life perfectly observed and in perfect equipoise. Personal life bubbling up from the cracks.
Greater New Haven Member

Wonderful - a magical experience: the quintessential Sunday Cinema Club flick.
Greater New Haven Member

This film is wonderful. Such a soft and sophisticated way of telling a story of loneliness, loss, alienation. Through food and the act of writing and longing, memory is slowly reconstructed and restored; and from this reclaiming, a new life unfolds. A masterpiece!
Greater New Haven Member

I loved that it ended in a realistic manner - it would have been phony if they got together at the cafe. I liked that the ending was left to us. [Note: many made similar remarks, and a number disagreed, too (see below).]
Greater New Haven Member

Schultze goes to Mumbai! Slow is good! [Note: again, varied opinions in this regard.]
Greater New Haven Member

I could almost smell the spices!
Greater New Haven Member

BOS

91% - Feb 2, 2014

A beautiful, wistful film—interesting examination of loneliness in the midst of crowdedness and clutter.
Boston Member

Charming! Excellent acting and pacing! Exotic! Excellent attention to detail to make points.
Boston Member

I can’t imagine anyone giving this film a ‘poor’ rating. A gentle, emotional delivery. Well done!3. 3. A beautiful, wistful film—interesting examination of loneliness in the midst of crowdedness and clutter.
Boston Member

4. Intriguing story filled with nuance.—a window close up into another culture. The loneliness was palpable and the food—you had a sense of smelling and tasting it. I loved the sites and sounds of the city and the neighborhood (auntie) interactions and lunchbox guys.
Boston Member

5. Wonderful study of the two main characters, especially through non-verbal acting and cinematography. Dialogue in English very sparse and very effective—loneliness rally as a theme worked at this pace.
Boston Member

6. I really liked the masses of people, papers, and things and the very human stories in the two characters talking to each other.
Boston Member

Moderator's comment:

A wonderful, tender film that touched many hearts. We talked about the epistolary form as a fragile mode of contact, at once intimate and vulnerable to violation, where private/public states are an opportunity but also a risk. The audience loved the many ways the cinematography and plot nuances echo and anticipate these themes. We also discussed the function of crowding at all levels in Mumbai as accentuation of our own world, but not different.
Boston Member

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