Thematic Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJIGJtb_N7E

Many themes are explored and displayed in "The Lunchbox'. Some of the major ones are love, courage,optimism, dissatisfaction, loneliness, hardship and culture to name a few.

Loneliness seems to be the focal point, the basis among all the characters we are introduced to. Sajaan, being a widower with no friends at work or family and on the verge of early retirement, is the epiphany of an old hermit. He is not well liked both at home or at work and his mundane life is the same routine daily. 

Ila, in her deteriorating marriage, constantly and unsuccessfully seeks company, attention and love from her husband. Once her daughter leaves for school, she is left on her own and often converses with "Aunty" who we never see. 

"Aunty" is lonely in her space also, as she religiously continues to take care of her ailing and bed-ridden husband, a job she has been doing  for over  fifteen years. Her love for music is her natural escape from her reality.

Shaikh is the newcomer at work and an orphan, He constantly seeks friendship and acceptance. Because of this need, he nags his way into Sajaan's life as he realizes that they are both missing parts of their lives. 

Love and courage were also major themes which illustrated how they can transform the unlikeliest of people as they broke down Sajaan's walls of hostility and lonesomeness and it gave Ila the courage to break free of her traditional duty to husband and family in order to find her own happiness. 

Loneliness and dissatisfaction are also portrayed as each of the characters displayed such. Ila is the lonely housewife who is unfulfilled and Sajaan is the loner who comes out of denial at the end of the movie as it relates to his lifestyle. He blatantly shows how one can be surrounded by lots of people and still be lonely.

How can something as trivial and novel as a lunchbox  bind these characters who are overcome and surrounded with negativity and adversity?  Fate and food are the culprits here. Simply by depicting  the harsh realities of life, the writer illustrates loneliness in a normal, beautiful and expressive way. The agony that each character experiences contributes immensely to the drama and reality of the film. They touch and affect each others lives and inspire each other to make the significant changes. 

The film was quite successful in illustrating it messages as they were delivered against a backdrop of reality and plain and simple human nature. It depicted independence in a traditional yet modern way and climaxed with the audience left to visualize or create their own personal endings. 

The Lunchbox was a refreshing film, filled with reality based and everyday situations which made it very easy to relate to. It gave us some insight into the remarkable lifestyle of Mumbai's lunch delivery system. The characters were very likable and captivating in their own special ways and were amazingly attuned to each other although we never see them meet.