The Lunchbox

The Lunchbox is an Indian romantic film and the feature film debut of director Ritesh Batra. The story centres on Ila, a housewife who hopes to spice up her marriage, literally, with a new recipe to be delivered to her husband at work. In Mumbai, there is a lunchbox delivery service that brings home cooked meals to workplaces and then returns the lunchboxes in the afternoon. One fateful day, Ila’s lunchbox gets delivered to the wrong man, a Saajan, a widower close to retirement. The two find comfort in their pen-pal friendship that, over time, could threaten their real-life relationships.

The story of an unlikely friendship in modern day India wowed audiences and critics alike when it played at TIFF this past September. The delivery system, run by a group of deliverymen known as Dabbawallahs, is unique to Mumbai. “It is a hereditary profession,” explains Batra. “Every morning the Dabbawallahs deliver hot meals from the kitchens of housewives to the offices of their husbands, and then return the empty lunchboxes back to the housewives in the afternoon. For 120 years they have provided the people of Mumbai with a taste of home in the office.”

The Lunchbox is rated G and will get a limited run in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal this weekend. It will open in Ottawa and other select cities starting March 28th.

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