Ila, a stereo typed housewife takes advice from the aunty upstairs (one can only hear the voice of this aunty throughout the movie) and cooks special recipe to try and win the heart of her husband who seems to have drifted away.
Fate intervenes. The near perfect world of lunch box deliverers of Mumbai make a mistake. The food cooked and packed by Ila ends up in the desk of one Mr. Fernandes. Mr. Fernandes, a widower, works in the claims of a nondescript firm and is on the verge of retirement. He has a contract with a nearby hotel that delivers food.
Mr. Fernandes is enamoured by the food that arrives at his desk and licks it clean. When the lunchbox reaches Ila, she is thrilled to find that lunchbox completely empty. She shares her joy with the aunty upstairs. But her joy is short lived. When she quizzer her husband on how the food was he says it was the usual and there was nothing special about it and he mentions a dish that she had not packed.
The upstairs aunty asks Ila to write and put a message in the lunch box. After some hesitation she does this. The box again reaches Mr. Fernandes who sends a reply back to the message that Ila has sent. Ila continues to take new recipes from the upstairs aunty and continues with the letters in which she starts relating about the problems she is facing in her life. Both eagerly wait for the lunchbox. They discuss the suicide of a young women with her young daughter, possibly due to the infidelity of her husband. Both left it unsaid that Ila's situation is the same.
The firm has recruited a person to replace Mr. Fernandes and has asked him to train the new person. But Mr. Fernandes has been ignoring this new recruit for reasons best known to himself. But the new recruit is persistent and gets under the skin of Mr. Fernandes. So much so that Mr. Fernandes is forced to share his lunch with this new recruit. He also starts training the new recruit.
The letters start getting a romantic tinge and they decide to elope to Bhutan where they have heard that one has a Gross National Happiness Index instead of the Gross National Product Index. They decide to meet at a restaurant in the evening.
In the morning as Mr. Fernandes is traveling to work he is called "uncle" and is offered a seat by a youth. This sets him thinking and he does not meet Ila. Ila sends an empty lunch box the next day with no letter. Mr. Fernandes confesses that he had come to the restaurant and had seen her. He says that he finds here beautiful and that he is too old for her.
The exchange of letters with Ila has transformed Mr. Fernandes from a grumpy old man to a more socialable person. and he agrees to come in the only relative to the wedding of the new recruit who happens to be an orphan. She makes one last attempt to meet Mr. Fernandes and with the help of the lunchbox delivery person reaches the desk of Mr. Fernandes only to find that he has retired.
Ila also gets some confidence from the appreciation she has received from Mr. Fernandes. She asks the lunchbox delivery person to start delivering the box to the right destination.
The film ends with Ila deciding to go off to Bhutan with her daughter. Mr. Fernandes who has gone to to home town comes back and is headed to Ila's home.
A nice watch. Watch it for a great acting by both Irrfan Khan as Mr. Fernandes and Nimrat Kaur as Ila.
Fate intervenes. The near perfect world of lunch box deliverers of Mumbai make a mistake. The food cooked and packed by Ila ends up in the desk of one Mr. Fernandes. Mr. Fernandes, a widower, works in the claims of a nondescript firm and is on the verge of retirement. He has a contract with a nearby hotel that delivers food.
Mr. Fernandes is enamoured by the food that arrives at his desk and licks it clean. When the lunchbox reaches Ila, she is thrilled to find that lunchbox completely empty. She shares her joy with the aunty upstairs. But her joy is short lived. When she quizzer her husband on how the food was he says it was the usual and there was nothing special about it and he mentions a dish that she had not packed.
The upstairs aunty asks Ila to write and put a message in the lunch box. After some hesitation she does this. The box again reaches Mr. Fernandes who sends a reply back to the message that Ila has sent. Ila continues to take new recipes from the upstairs aunty and continues with the letters in which she starts relating about the problems she is facing in her life. Both eagerly wait for the lunchbox. They discuss the suicide of a young women with her young daughter, possibly due to the infidelity of her husband. Both left it unsaid that Ila's situation is the same.
The firm has recruited a person to replace Mr. Fernandes and has asked him to train the new person. But Mr. Fernandes has been ignoring this new recruit for reasons best known to himself. But the new recruit is persistent and gets under the skin of Mr. Fernandes. So much so that Mr. Fernandes is forced to share his lunch with this new recruit. He also starts training the new recruit.
The letters start getting a romantic tinge and they decide to elope to Bhutan where they have heard that one has a Gross National Happiness Index instead of the Gross National Product Index. They decide to meet at a restaurant in the evening.
In the morning as Mr. Fernandes is traveling to work he is called "uncle" and is offered a seat by a youth. This sets him thinking and he does not meet Ila. Ila sends an empty lunch box the next day with no letter. Mr. Fernandes confesses that he had come to the restaurant and had seen her. He says that he finds here beautiful and that he is too old for her.
The exchange of letters with Ila has transformed Mr. Fernandes from a grumpy old man to a more socialable person. and he agrees to come in the only relative to the wedding of the new recruit who happens to be an orphan. She makes one last attempt to meet Mr. Fernandes and with the help of the lunchbox delivery person reaches the desk of Mr. Fernandes only to find that he has retired.
Ila also gets some confidence from the appreciation she has received from Mr. Fernandes. She asks the lunchbox delivery person to start delivering the box to the right destination.
The film ends with Ila deciding to go off to Bhutan with her daughter. Mr. Fernandes who has gone to to home town comes back and is headed to Ila's home.
A nice watch. Watch it for a great acting by both Irrfan Khan as Mr. Fernandes and Nimrat Kaur as Ila.
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