The Lunchbox is a 2013 drama film written and directed by Ritesh Batra. Produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap and Arun Rangachari, The Lunchbox is an international co-production of studios in India, the US, Germany and France. It stars Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bharti Achrekar and Nakul Vaid in supporting roles.

Plot

Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is a young housewife seeking the attention of her husband, Rajeev (Nakul Vaid), and searching for ways to bring the romance back into her marriage; one of her ideas is to cook delicious lunches for him. Through a rare mix-up of the dabbawalas (a complicated food delivery system in Mumbai that picks up and delivers lunches from restaurants or homes to people at work), the tiffin carrier (lunchbox) Ila prepares for her husband gets accidentally delivered instead, to Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan), a middle-aged widower who is about to retire from his job of an accountant. Ila eventually realises the mistake and with the advice of her neighbour aunt, Mrs. Deshpande (Bharti Achrekar - voice only), living in the apartment above her, writes a letter to Saajan about the mix-up and places it in the lunchbox (along with her husband's favourite meal) the next day. An exchange of letters sent back and forth with the lunches ignites a friendship between the two, as they share memories and events from their own lives.