Cert PG
105 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent references to suicide and one use of mild language
Ok, so here's a movie where there are no special effects, no violence, no nudity and not a lot happens.
And do you know what? It's one of the best films of 2014 so far.
What makes The Lunchbox so wonderful is the beautiful writing and direction of Ritesh Batra.
It is an exploration of loneliness and love across the generations while digging deep into the rich culture of Indian life.
Irrfan Khan plays a government department's sullen senior clerk who is nearing retirement.
However, he is a widower, has no friends, no outside interests and has very little to look forward to.
Across Mumbai, lives Ila (Nimrat Kaur), a housewife who is desperate to please her uncaring husband.
A romance between the young woman and the much older man is unthinkable but a light is shone between them when her husband's lunch is delivered to the clerk by an errant courier service.
Batra's excellence is in the tempo of his writing which develops interesting parallel plotlines while gently ratcheting up the relationship of his two shy lead characters.
He is, of course, helped by his stars, Khan and Kaur, who are superbly understated.
The Lunchbox shows that Indian cinema can be about so much more than the singing, dancing and slapping of Bollywood.
It's beautiful cinematic story-telling and had me spellbound.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 9/10