The Lunchbox

Director Ritesh Batra takes us into the world of the Mumbai 'dabbawallas.'  They have their songs, rhythms, emphasised by the jolting of over-crowded trains or a rain-soaked bicycle ride as they collect nearly half a million packed hot lunches from workers' homes and deliver them to their desks in time for lunch. The fast-paced city life is in contrast to the quirky staidness of widower and accountant  (Irrfan Khan) who receives the wrong lunchbox from neglected wife (Nimrat Kaur), trying her best to spice up her life. This is a film in which the senses record life's longings and despair: from the ritual stability of the multi-stacked, silver, tiffin lunchboxes to the lonely realisation that the lingering smell on a husband's shirt signals an affair. The performances are beautifully observed from Khan and Kaur as they tentatively reach out to one another, and shot against cramped interiors or the fierce, hugger-mugger energy which spills out from city life, the story-telling is sublime.