I knew that I would watch this movie the very first show on the day of its release. This film won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award at the Cannes and was also screened at Toronto International Film Festival this year. It had made a lot of news and was praised by many film critics all over the world much before it got released today in India. Apart from the fact that this flick had garnered positive reviews from people all over the world, I watched it as I am a huge fan of the genre of movies that fall under the epistolary romance bracket. I think it is easy to write a book than to think of projecting a movie of this genre as it is never easy to visualize a screenplay to show romance on the celluloid over the exchange of letters. Ritesh Batra attempts exactly that.
Ila(Nimrat Kaur), a neglected housewife, desperately trying to please her husband avails the help of a neighbor residing on the same flat on an upper floor to enhance her culinary skills and sends food availing the services of the Mumbai dabbawala to her husband. On account of an incorrect delivery by the dabbawalas, the food ends up being delivered to Saajan Fernandes(Irrfan Khan), a reclusive, lonely government employee working in the claims department who is about to retire in a month. Saajan is surprised to taste delicious food and sends back the tiffin box eating it all(described in the movie as tiffin box licked clean) and when Ila is questioning her husband after his work on how the food was learns that he didn’t even eat what she had so affectionately prepared. Ila instead of letting either her husband know that he didn’t even eat what she had actually prepared and instead ate food from the other box or informing the dabbawalas on the incorrect delivery prepares food again with a letter sent in the box stating that it was actually send to her husband and not to Saajan. Letters exchange between Saajan and Ila, where they discuss their fears, insecurities and their lives in general before they decide to meet. Do they actually meet up or go their separate ways forms the rest of the story. Based on the feedback I have got from my previous review, I shall not reveal the climax and instead encourage you guys to go watch the movie and figure it out.
There are so many scenes in the movie that I think will remain with me for a few days. The best scene in the movie is when Saajan picks a painting from a number of paintings, all having the same tower as a background with a reason that the one that he picked seemed to have him as one of the persons painted around a tower. The way both Saajan and Ila hurriedly look for responses for their letters as soon as the tiffin box arrives is soul touching. There is a scene in the movie where after having decided to meet each other Illa awaits Saajan for a long time and as he never arrives sends an empty tiffin box to him the next day. Another scene that I really liked is when Saajan refuses to give kids playing in the area the cricket ball that has been hit by one of them which is now in Saajan’s residence, the little gal sweetly retaliates later by closing the window of her residence when Saajan is smoking and randomly staring at the gals residence right in front of his house.
Characterization and performances of all the three chief characters are subtle, delicate and laudable. Irfaan plays the sad widowed government employee spot on. Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing the character of Shaikh, a newly joined employee to take over the position of Saajan who is about to retire has great sense of comic timing and portrays his role of an irritant so amazingly well. Nimrat Kaur enacting Ila, a women stuck with daily chores of taking care of her daughter, washing clothes and preparing food and someone who is downright neglected by her husband essays the role of a person trying to find happiness in the little things that she does. This movie might be boring for those looking for action or seeking thrill in a story but I think even they are going to like it at least for the performances. Had it been for a faster narration and an engrossing cinematic presentation, I would have given this a 4 stars. 3 falls short for amazing performances and conceptualizing an idea of this kind to be made into a movie and hence I shall give it a 3 1/2 - Easily recommended.