Ritesh Batra’s debut feature is a masterly controlled story that never feels contrived
Though Mumbai’s famous lunchbox delivery system is supposed to be flawless, an unexpected mistake takes place when the food made by Ila (Nimrat Kaur), a young and unhappily married housewife, does not reach her husband’s workplace, but the office of Sajaan (Irrfan Khan), a embittered older man about to retire. What starts as an innocuous error soon becomes a warm exchange of notes between two lonely souls looking for some meaning in their loveless lives.
If you think that Indian filmmaker Ritesh Batra’s storyline for The Lunchbox (Dabba), his debut film that became a sensation at last year’s Cannes film festival, is the stuff corny love stories are made of, think again. Or, better said, that’s exactly what it is when Hollywood makes the movies. But here nothing could be further from that. Batra achieves three most difficult things at once: a realistic gaze, emotional honesty, and genuine depth. So make no mistake: there’s no room for melodrama here.
And yet, this is not to say that The Lunchbox is a cerebral, intellectual film. On the contrary. It’s just that it approaches these characters’ hopes and longings in a touching fashion without ever going over the top. As soon as Sajaan and Ila start exchanging notes, without ever meeting, it becomes clear that they share some unfortunate realities: the loss of loved ones, a sense that everyday life is passing them by, a feeling of anguishing solitude, and not having anybody to truly talk to.
In Hollywood, these two strangers would eventually meet, would like each other, and fall in love. In the meantime, their lives would be transformed, and in the end they would live happily ever after. In a sense, something like that happens in The Lunchbox too. But not really. There are transformations, but only due to subtle insights and unpretentious observations. There’s gradual awareness, but not sudden wisdom. There are some hints at how to see with new eyes. Most importantly, there’s some kind of awakening in the characters’ inner selves that feels very real. There’s true optimism, but only as long as it doesn’t outdo realism.
Whether they meet and live happily ever after is not to be disclosed here. Much of the pleasure of Batra’s remarkable debut feature lies in the discovery of what happens next (precisely when you thought you knew, but you were wrong). Last but by no means least: the absorbing, seductive performances by the two leads are in perfect sync with a masterly controlled narrative that never feels contrived. Not for a single cinematic second.
