The Lunchbox

Movie theatres usually discourage talking but our latest series is designed to encourage it — before and after (not during) the show. Aimed at film lovers 55+, Talking Pictures offers audience-friendly festival films, refreshments, and an open invitation to chat about our shared experience of the movie. Tickets are just $10. Bring a buddy and get two for $16!

Talking Pictures happens the last Tuesday of the month, 11:00 am, at the most comfortable theatre in the city, the VIFF Centre.

Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship.

Veteran Indian star Irfan Khan gives a magnetic performance as the lonely Saajan in this irresistibly charming rom-com.

One thing that makes Lunchbox so strong is that a touch of melancholy hangs over its sweetness. Finally this is a film about the wheel of life, about what helps us cope with its turns and find our way in its unforgiving labyrinth.

Kenneth Turan, LA Times

A witty and perceptive film that reveals the hopes, sorrows and regrets of ordinary people.

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun Times