I think we forget things if we have no one to tell them to

I had almost given up on seeing subtlety in mainstream Hindi movies. It seemed a mainstream Hindi movie for some unknown reason has to be loud, over the top and exaggerated. Then I saw Lunch Box. It’s been quite a while since I watched it but I have not stopped thinking about it. The characters, their conversations, their mannerisms and the things they said to each other keep coming back to me. One such thing which Saajan Fernandes says “I think we forget things if we have no one to tell them to”, completely swept me off my feet. This also happens to be the crux of the movie.

Yes the movie is about loneliness, but it is not depressing. How can a movie that turns a lunch box into a cupid making two lonely strangers fall in love with each other be depressing? A plot so poetically whimsical that probably even the master directors/producers of romantic fantasies would dismiss it at its outset (which is why I would like to thank Karan Johar for backing it). Yet the execution is so subtle and the characters are so ordinary and regular, that in spite of the plot, the movie oozes of documentary like realism. I won’t go too deep into the plot as there is nothing much in it and the trailers have already given it away. I also won’t go into the technical aspects of the movie like direction, screenplay, and cinematography etc because, well I don’t know much about them, which is why this is not a review of the movie. I, however, will go into the characters because more than the story or the screenplay, the characters fascinate me, whether it is a book or a movie or a TV series. Lunch box has just three main characters, Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan), Ila (Nimrat Kaur) and Aslam Sheikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). It required no more.

These three characters are so ordinary and regular that the triviality of their lives scares you. Ila’s life is limited to her small flat, so small that you cringe a little when ever camera passes through her kitchen, bathroom or bedroom. Saajan’s life is limited to crammed local trains, buses and his office hall which is full of files and people but no cubicles, computers or coffee machines. Imagine thirty five years of this routine. It really hits you hard when he says that he “treated himself to an auto ride" from station to his home. Aslam, a rookie set to replace retiring Saajan, is so short of time and money that he spends his day on two bananas and cuts his vegetables in the train on his way home; yet he purchases a first class pass just so that he can spend more time with Saajan. But more than the ordinariness of their lives, it’s their loneliness and desperation to find a companion that hits you harder. Ila is good looking, young and in fine shape (she fits into her honeymoon suit even after all these years), but ignored by her husband who is either on phone or watching TV. This lack of attention pushes her towards Saajan, a much older man, who is ready to listen to all the things she has to say in her letters in spite of the fact that whatever she says has no connection to him. Saajan, a widower, who has not had an informal, meaningless conversation with anyone for years, starts with short and blunt letters, mostly telling her about her cooking.  However with time his letters get more evocative and he starts telling her things which he himself has forgotten over the years, because he's had no one to tell them to. Sheikh, an orphan, initially comes across as an obnoxiously annoying person who cares less for others’ mood or privacy. But slowly we warm up to him as we find out that his creepiness towards Saajan is nothing but a genuine attempt to have a friend, a mentor, a guardian, a “sarparast” in his life as he has spent all his life learning everything on his own. His jubilant reaction to Irrfan telling him that he has decided not to retire (which meant he would not be getting his post) was the highlight of the movie for me. It showed that for him relations, friends, people meant more than promotion or career. Every Hindi movie tries to stress upon this point with a loud, over expressive hero and his big entourage in long melodramatic scenes and still fails to convince me, but Lunch box convinced me in a short, 2 minute scene.

Other than these three there were also Deshpande aunty, Ila’s husband Rajiv and Ila’s mother. Deshpande aunty lives above Ila and we only get to hear her voice, probably symbolic of an angel or godmother to Ila which makes perfect sense as she is the only respite in Ila’s life. She not only supervises her cooking but also entertains her by playing songs. But more than that, both Despande aunty and Ila’s mother act as reality checks for Ila. Both of them spend their lives taking care of their old bed ridden husbands. This is nothing but a reflection of Ila’s possible future if she is to take her relationship with Saajan further than exchanging letters. Saajan, being more matured foresees this early but Ila only realizes this when her father dies and her mother tells her how she despised him during his last few years. Ila’s husband is necessary in the movie to understand Ila’s loneliness in spite of having a child and a husband. Not only is he indifferent (not uncaring though) towards Ila but is also having an affair, which Ila knows but can do nothing about. She herself says “unse bol k kaha jaungi”. One more tragedy of Indian housewives; sticking to their unfaithful husbands because they have no other option.

I cannot end this piece without saying a word or two about the sheer pleasure of watching two of the finest actors of this generation sharing screen. Both of them together in a scene and you don’t need words to get charmed. The quirkiness of their mannerisms and expressions tell a story more enchanting than an hour long monologue by our current stars and superstars. Irrfan has unanimously become the barometer for measuring acting skills but for me Nawazuddin takes the cake simply because his character gives him more things to play with, as opposed to Irrfan’s one dimensional character. His being an orphan and still saying “meri ammi hamesha kehti thi”, his self depreciation “height bhi kuch khaas nahi, kala kaluta bhi hu” and his optimistic road side philosophy “kabhi kabhi galat train bhi aadmi ko sahi jagah pahuncha det haii” give this movie a flavor that takes it from being a great movie to a great experience. I don’t judge people for their movie choices (ok I do :P) but if you don’t like this movie, you lack something as a human.