Lunchbox

To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. That's how precise the dabbawallas are. The dabbawallas of Mumbai will pick up the lunchbox or “dabba” from the homes and deliver it to the client’s office desk, then again in the late afternoon; they pick up the empty lunchboxes and return it to its owner at home. The 5,000 or so dabbawalas in the city have an astounding six sigma service record. Every working day they transport more than 130,000 lunchboxes throughout Mumbai, the world’s fourth-most-populous city. That entails conducting upwards of 260,000 transactions in six hours each day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year (minus holidays). They have been doing this since 1890. Harvard Business School and many others have studied them for service excellence. But then ... Anything normal is never a story. The film Lunchbox focuses on the possibilities that arise out of such defects. The story is a what-if kind of story. What if the lunchbox made by a loving housewife for an uncaring husband reaches a soon-to-retire widower accidentally. Nimrat Kaur plays the housewife who drops in a letter to this stranger who had the meal intended for her husband. Irrfan Khan plays the role of the stranger. What transpires is the story of this must-watch film Lunchbox.http://youtu.be/Enq9nNGnMFY

It is hard to believe that this film is director-writer Ritesh Batra’s debut feature film. There are very few directors who make such a brilliant debut. Nimrat Kaur had a tiny forgettable role in a forgettable film Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana as Muskan Khurana. But in Lunchbox she is the one who steals the limelight as the housewife Ila. Ila's life is all about getting the kid off to school, making lunch in time for the dabbawalla to collect and deliver to a husband whose attention she never has. Her invisible neighbor (played by veteran actress Bharati Achrekar), advises her to win over her husband through his stomach. The advice works – it is just that the man in question is a stranger who tucks in a handwritten note in the lunchbox.

 Irrfan Khan plays Saajan Fernandez, a widower whose life too is devoid of anyone’s attention. His lunchbox comes from a hotel that serves him insipid food. Saajan does not care. The insipid food is as bland as his life. The attention comes from a stranger. Even after she realizes that the lunchbox is going to someone else, she continues to play the game for just the response that she gets in the form of the notes. The lunchbox becomes the fulcrum of their life. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is the pesky smooth talking new hire who is slated to take over from Saajan Fernandez in the claims department. Siddiqui’s character shows up in the most annoying moments when the audience is rooting for Saajan to get a little privacy to read the letter tucked away in the lunchbox. The nosy, smooth-talking and annoying office colleague who greets Saajan with an annoying, “Hallow Saar” also reminds the audience that there is a world outside those letters being exchanged every day.I don’t know exactly when that happened during the story but I found myself waiting for the lunchbox as eagerly as Ila and Saajan. What would the note say? Would they actually meet? Would Ila and Saajan be happy if they got together? That is what makes this film so endearing. There are small touches that are unexpected. One expects to see the aunty whose voice is an everpresent fixture in Ila's life. But we don't. I loved that bit. It leaves the audience guessing. Lunchbox tells a story devoid of any gimmicks and props. The strength of the film is just that – a strong story, an uncomplicated plotline and of course, the characters played by three actors who make us forget that this is only film. What a refreshing film. Go see it.-----------Read: Anything normal is not a storyJoin me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri