The Lunchbox

Ila is a young Indian woman living with her husband and daughter in Mumbai. She is trying to rekindle the fire of her marriage by sending fabulous lunches to him while he is at work. And like nearly everyone else in Mumbai, she uses the dabbawala, an extensive lunch door-to-door delivery service. Renown for its efficiency and accuracy, Ila's lunches happen to get deposited at the wrong desk. After a couple days, notes start to get passed back and forth with the pail and a relationship is born. What is fabulous about this film is that the communication and development of the relationship happens via one note per day. The pacing of the film shows this, and drew me into the anticipation of tomorrow's lunch along with the need to continue with the other plain tasks of each day. How to be patient and impatient at the same time. Both Ila and Saajan are changed by their encounter, and we care about both of them. Add in fantastic scenes of life in Mumbai and comic relief from Auntie upstairs and you get an thoroughly enjoyable film.

5 stars (out of 5)