Thithi

Century Gowda's death is the first event in Thithi and is preceded by a brief snippet of his life. This seems to consist of haranguing and insulting everyone he comes across. Century Gowda is described as a cantankerous centenarian but I'd call him a miserable old git. I think I was supposed to find him (and many of the characters) endearing, but I didn't. Century's main relevance to the plot is the five acres of farm land that he owned.

Century is survived by three generations - his son Gadappa, his grandson Thamanna and his great-grandson Abhi. The five acres technically belong to Gadappa but he's a bit of a free spirit whose favourite hobbies are drinking, smoking and playing games and he's not interested in the land. Nor is he interested in signing the land over to his son, who is chiefly interested in selling it. Abhi  leans more towards the free spirit side of the family - his hobbies appear to be playing cards and pursuing the girl of his dreams.

A thithi is a kind of post-funeral ceremomy which takes place 11 days after the death and cremation. The local astrologer says five hundred people must be invited. and and it's expected that they are fed very well. The film covers the eleven days leading up to the thithi and the family machinations that take place. Thamanna decides to fake Gadappa's death so he can sell the land. He borrows money in anticipation of the sale and pays Gadappa to disappear. He gives Abhi some of the money to buy three sheep for the thithi feast. Gadappa does a poor job of disappearing and Abhi loses the sheep money gambling on cards. I struggled to care. In the right circumstances this would be a comedy of errors but it just seemed like a bunch of mean-spirited people (nearly all the characters spent the whole movie complaining) got what they deserved. Avoid.

Anne's rating 1.5/5 Ian's rating 3/5

The Lunchbox

Do you know what a Dabbawala is? The Hindi word for lunchbox and the original title of this movie is Dabba, and a Dabbawala is the lunch delivery guy. Mumbai's amazing system of door-to-door personalised delivery of home-cooked lunches is the backdrop for this movie.

Ila is a beautiful housewife who senses that her husband has lost interest in her. She attempts to regain his affection (or at least his attention) by making his delivered lunch particularly delicious. Unfortunately, the Dabbawala has made a rare delivery mix-up, and the delicious lunch is delivered to the wrong person. That evening when she's quizzing her husband about whether he enjoyed it or not , Ila realises her husband didn't get the lunch she made. The next day she puts a note with lunch in case it goes astray again, which it does. She gets a note in return, and so a relationship begins.

The lunch recipient is Saajan, a good-looking but curmudgeonly widower who works in an insurance office. He's about to retire and is supposed to be training the irrepressibly cheerful Shaikh to be his replacement. Lunch and a message from Ila become the highlight of his working day. Making lunch for a grateful but anonymous recipient becomes the highlight of hers.

The Lunchbox is a romance, and reminds us that romance and relationships come in many forms. It celebrates the particular pleasures brought by anticipation and surprise. It knows we all want to be noticed and appreciated and cared for, and that this can be done in a variety of ways. I think it also says a romance doesn't have to have the expected outcome to enrich the lives of the participants. If you find Hollywood or Bollywood rom-coms overly formulaic and want something a little different while still having your heart suitably warmed, The Lunchbox will deliver for you. And you'll get to experience something of Mumbai while it's doing it.

Anne's rating 4/5 Ian's rating 4/5

Charulata

Madhabi Mukherjee has a beautiful face and Satyajit Ray makes the most of it in his 1964 film, Charulata (or the Lonely Wife). Close ups of her generally passive face make up a significant portion of the two hour running time.

Bhupati, a busy owner/editor of his newly started newspaper in 1870s Calcutta, is aware that his wife is bored. When he hears that his younger cousin Amal has just finished university and is at a loose end, Bhupati invites Amal to come and stay. Bhupati suggests that Amal subtly encourage Charulata to resume writing. There is a funny scene where Bhupati's friends celebrate Charulata's success (in her absence) and to Bhupati's embarrassment.

There are no prizes for guessing where this plot is going. It is all very chaste. This is a film about high brow literature and drawing room politics. Everyone is very polite and restrained, don't expect sex, violence or even a raised voice. Much of what is going on in Charulata's head is portrayed visually through her acting, the camera work and by synchronizing changes in the weather with changes in her mood.

This film is beautiful but far too slow and long for my tastes.

Ian's rating 2.5/5