THE UNDERCOOKED LUNCHBOX

It’s not bad. That's about the best thing I can say about it. I love the fact that the movie makers had the guts to center a movie around a lunchbox. And the heart of the story is in the right place, but the arms and legs of the story don't move at all. The progression of the storyline is painfully tedious. I think I even went into a trance somewhere in the middle of the movie just willing the lunchbox to open sooner!

Irfan Khan? Brilliant! But tell me something new. And for god's sake he needs to learn to 'unbrilliantize' himself. Even brilliance can get very monotonous. He is working himself into a predictable niche and he seriously needs to explore other characterizations. Nimrat Kaur? Someone please tell her that 'acting natural' comes after you have learnt to act. There are two competitors for the spot of the most engaging characters - Sheikh, the irritating trainee, played quite endearingly by Nawazuddin, and the lunchbox, who steals the show with its vim sparkling presence and by hogging majority of the screentime!

I wish the movie makers had paid more attention to the contents of 'the lunchbox' than having their characters spend all their time just opening and closing lunchboxes. The story needs more twists and turns and a bit more intellectual fodder. The ingredients were perfect, the recipe was bang on, just that it was taken off the stove a tad prematurely, as if there was a great hurry to serve the meal!