The Lunchbox: Striking a chord through dabba!

There has been a lot of heartbreak among film critics that a simple, yet heartwarming film like The Lunchbox has not been selected by India for the Oscars competition this year. Understandably, there is quite a bit of sense in such heartbreak, if one compares this film to the one that is selected The Good Road. Definitely, The Lunchbox would have given a tough competition, which one doubts The Good Road will. 

Director: Ritesh Batra

Film Clip

So what is so special about The Lunchbox? Nothing really! Except that it seems a story that can be felt unfolding on a daily basis in the lives of many in busy crowded cities like Mumbai. Loneliness is a strong theme in the film. But, the way the protagonists try to deal with loneliness by communicating with each other in the most unconventional way possible, seems a very amusing aspect of the film.

Mr Fernandes (Irfan Khan) and Ila (Nimrat Kaur) have both problems unique to them, yet what is common to both is a heavy heart. Perhaps it is this that helps them vibrate with each other, even without actually meeting personally.

The film has some very interesting and imaginative traits such as the unseen but understanding aunty, whose voice we (and Ila) hear all the time. Then there is Ila herself who finds out unconventionally, but quite certainly, that her husband is being unfaithful to her. The way the director presents each character sans any complexities is a credit to his insight into humans. While the two protagonists would like to meet, the director seems certain that a predictable end would only spoil the beauty of the film. What makes the film work, besides its storyline, is the amazing performances of Irfan, Namita and, of course, the talkative Nawazuddin.

Sad that it didn’t make it to Oscars!

- Melwyn Pinto SJ

The Accused: Victim is the accused!

The recent verdict of death sentence by the Fast Track court in Delhi slapped on the rapists brings back memories of this 1988 film The Accused. The situation seems somewhat similar, except that the real incident that inspired this film had a victim who survived the gang rape and fought till the end in the court and ensure that the rapists got their punishment, unlike the Delhi gang rape victim who succumbed to her gruesome injuries.

Director: Jonathan Kaplan

Film Clip

The film brings forth many issues related to legal system that handles rape cases. It is not easy at all for a rape victim to narrate her horror stories in the court, especially when the other party (the accused) is out to insensitively destroy her. That is exactly what happens to Sarah Tobias when the lawyer of the accused asks her whether ‘she is sure who were witnessing her being raped at a time when there was such a big noise in the bar’. As though that was highly important when the issue at hand was violence against a hapless victim!

The legal system all over the world has a history of being very insensitive to the victims. And India is no exception. And when the perpetrators of crime are powerful and influential, they can even buy the judges and what you have is just a travesty of justice. But for public outcry, even the Delhi rape case too would have turned out to be just another ‘incident’. While there are discussions whether death sentence to rapists would bring down the rate of crime in the country, the protagonist of the film Sarah Tobias sets the standards for the victims and for all those who care not to give up fighting till the end for justice. Jodie Foster as the rape victim does justice to her character. The title The Accused is indeed a misnomer as it actually refers to the victim who is made to look like an accused.

- Melwyn Pinto SJ