The Lunchbox

Ritesh Batra, India 2013. 104mins. Certificate PG

Need cheering up? Join us for Ritesh Batra’s BAFTA-nominated debut feature — a charming tale of love, friendship and intimacy in the big city.

Keen to spice up her marriage, middle class housewife Ila tries a new recipe for her husband’s lunch. When he fails to comment on this exciting new dish, she realises there has been a mix up, and that some other lucky person has received her carefully prepared package. Keen for feedback, she cooks another lunch and writes a note to her mystery recipient. And so begins a journey of friendship, self discovery and…cooking.

Writer-director Batra had initially planned to make a documentary about Mumbai’s “dabbawalas” — a lunch delivery system that picks up and delivers lunches to people at work, when he found the stories he heard inspired him to write this script.

He was clearly on to something — The Lunchbox has been causing a storm at film festivals across the world since it’s release in 2013. It is an exemplary product of a burgeoning independent film scene in India, don’t miss your chance to see it!

Reviews

★★★★‘A Rolls Royce romantic comedy set in Mumbai that rides on a delectable, bittersweet central turn by Irrfan Khan.’, David Jenkins, LITTLE WHITE LIES

★★★★ ‘The Lunchbox is perfectly handled and beautifully acted; a quiet storm of banked emotions.’, Xan Brooks, THE OBSERVER

★★★★ ‘This is a real charmer of a film’, Geoffrey McNab, THE INDEPENDENT

★★★★ ‘Charming and whimsical, it’s a feast for the eyes’ – David Parkinson, EMPIRE

★★★★ ‘The Lunchbox is either a piquant romance or a wise comedy. The director’s confidence with such a delicate story makes it successful as both’, Paul Bynes, THE SYDNEY HERALD