Subliminal Things About The Lunchbox That Got It Nominated For A BAFTA

The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra was unique in the way that it wove an unconventional love story from the rare error of a Mumbai dabbawallah. On Friday, the movie was nominated for the "Film Not In English" category of the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) this year. The Lunchbox is the only Asian film to be nominated for this category with other contenders from Europe and the Americas. The movie is a refreshing breather from your typical Bollywood movie and has hidden messages throughout its simple storyline.

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1. Food forges friendships

Food is an integral part of human culture. We talk about it, we bond over it, we take comfort from it. The movie simply used these aspects of food culture to bring the characters of a lonely widower and an unloved housewife together. Even if it sounds idealistic in an unreal world, written messages are the oldest form of communication known to man and probably one of the most ambiguous in the context of today's world.

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2. Moving on is our only way to happiness

Saajan (played by Irrfan Khan) and Ila (played by Nimrat Kaur) fall in love with an exchange of messages with food being the doors to their souls. Unfortunately their love does not find a happy ending but it only serves to help them move on with the hurdles in their lives.

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3. Follow your dreams first

In life we all have dreams and goals that we want to achieve somewhere down the road but sometimes events and emotions rule our hearts and make us stray way from that path. For example, Ila is in a loveless marriage with her father on his deathbed, yet she dreams of going to Bhutan. She falls in love with Saajan who realises that perhaps she deserves her dreams more than she deserves him. He is old, she is young. He has tasted the best and worst of life, she has not because of the yoke of marriage.

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4. Things aren't as bad as they seem

Saajan writes this in a message to Ila where he remembers an old lady in the train touch his groin. It makes her (Ila) smile, and forget her grim reality after reading it. Life could be worse, focus on the brighter things that make your day.

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5. When all is lost, there will always be someone to guide you out of the darkness

Ila's neighbour plays a maternal role wherein she is giving constant culinary advice to her. Ila summons the lady's help when she is trying to make her marriage work and again when she tries to win Saajan's friendship through her food. It proves fruitful when Saajan provides constructive criticism and eventually appreciates the lunches that she has packed for him.

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6. People with with unpleasant traits have unpleasant reasons for being who they are

Shaikh, the junior officer hired to replace Saajan has an unpleasant work ethic despite being trained by the latter. After learning Shaikh's life story of being orphaned and the hardships he endures, Saajan spares him the trouble of facing his shortcomings and takes the blame on his behalf.

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7. Platonic and unconventional love is beautiful, but is it feasible?

Maybe, maybe not. There is no debate. The story leaves us with a "what if" question in our mind. What if Saajan and Ila decided to fall in love, not with messages but with spoken words?

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