Namaste and welcome back to another weekly Movie and TV Review!! This week’s film is none other than The Lunchbox starring a crazy roster of talent; Irrfan Khan being one of many talented acts. In The Lunchbox, the tiffin or lunchbox courier system is unmatched in its accuracy, so much so, that it gained the outside world’s attention. Intellectuals from places like Harvard came to investigate them and they too found no flaws. But to err is human. Though not entirely their fault, Rajeev, Ila’s wayward husband, and Fernandes’ lunchboxes look the same, so the delivery man can’t be knocked too hard. The premise of the film is that sometimes the wrong train will get you to the right station. The error in Ila’s lunchtime missive led to newfound courage and friendship.

Set in Mumbai, Ila, a lonely housewife, in hopes of rekindling the love lost in her marriage, enlists the help of her all-knowing auntie in the form of a disembodied voice, Mrs. Deshpande. They cook up a last-ditch plan to woo Rajeev back to her side through his stomach. Meanwhile, Saajin Fernandes, an early retiree and grouchy offender, spends his time kicking helpless kittens and torturing the neighborhood kids, is tasked with training his replacement, Aslam Shaikh in the claims department.

Across nations, the orphan experience is a life sentence to hardship.

Of course, there’s always the exception, but without fail, orphans, if not looked after, are treated with contempt, are forgotten, and are abused. And Shaikh is no different. His life has been adapt or die. The everyman, Shaikh traveled between India and Dubai doing odd jobs to survive until he met his blushing bride, Mehrunnisa. And again he’s met with prejudice by her father for being an orphan among other things. What’s the deal?

Even in K-dramas, (shameless plug for two of my previous post) My Perfect Roommate.  

The same is the case Tori and Lokita . Though not entirely an orphan herself, Lokita may as well have been if the way the adults around took advantage of her is any case to go by. Though, in Shaikh’s case, all is not lost, and Shaikh gets a happy ending. In Fernandes, Shaikh found a father figure. Fernandes standing in at the wedding as Shaikh’s guardian was endearing.

The Lunchbox is a study in the phrase, ‘familiar breeds contempt.’ I think. On some level, you can’t say who’s right and who isn’t. There’s his truth, her truth, and the truth.

Likewise one can’t control what other people do, but I wonder if what happened between Ila and Rajeev couldn’t have been avoided?

Note that I’m not blaming Rajeev’s infidelity on Ila- people are going to do whatever they want no matter what. But what would’ve happened if

the two had made up their minds to meet in the middle and work through their problems? Or if Ila took note and spiced things up before Rajeev’s infidelity? The movie only shows the tail end of marriage before the presumed divorce. What signs were missed on both sides before Rajeev chose to bow out by cheating?

Again let it be said that I’m not defending Rajeev’s infidelity in any way nor am I placing blame on Ila entirely (before some fucking morality police comes for me.)

What I’m getting at is similar to women, men have buckets that need to be filled or they’ll find a way to fill them. And in the context of marriage- namely between Ila and Rajeev, sometimes in a way Ila most definitely doesn’t appreciate. Infidelity.

I’d been reading or mostly listening to books on the male perspective and it’s quite interesting (shout out to Norah Vincent and her book: Self-Made Man. May she rest in peace.)  One area that really sparked my interest was a man’s need for sex.

We don’t get to see much of Rajeev’s character other than that he’s a cheating scoundrel, so the focus is on Ila.

I’m playing devil’s advocate here when I point out some character traits that I noticed about Ila. Let it be said that Ila is a good woman, and clearly still cares for her husband. Now let’s proceed. She’s a worrywart, is nurturing, a great cook, but more importantly, she’s a goody-two-shoes. Or maybe this is me just projecting again, but hear me out here.

I thought maybe she saw something in Rajeev that she didn’t like and she rejected him. And this kept happening in the area of sexual intimacy and eventually he just gave up. I suspected there was another woman on Rejeev’s mind by the distance he put between them. Not to mention the coded speech used on a late-night phone call. Call me paranoid, but my cheater-dar (cheater detecting radar) wasn’t that far off. The minute he rejected Ila’s offer to give Yavshi, their only child, a sibling I knew then he was cheating. Again this is all speculation and even projection on a fictional so who cares anyway.

Anypoops, I give the Lunchbox a fresh rose out of Mirai’s private garden. Tell me what you think. Drop a like and comment.