Saajan Fernandes – A Closer Look

Saajan Fernandes from “The Lunchbox” leaves you with the same longing as he weaves his way through the milieu of Mumbai’s “dabbawalas” toward the end of the film.

A widowed accountant nearing his retirement, Saajan initially comes off as an unremarkable, socially detached person yet to catch up with the ways of the world, perceived as grumpy and unyielding, and probably strange by nearly everyone around him.

Apart from the train rides and his loneliness, Saajan’s life is generally uneventful. He exists like a wallflower does. Barely noticed, seeing things, understanding them and keeping quiet, until Ila and Shaikh tap into some unspoken parts of him and you get a glimpse of what he might had been, of what he could be.

Saajan’s journey was more about self discovery and reconnecting with himself than evolution; breaking down the carefully guarded walls and getting to know the man behind the stoic demeanour – a person capable of love and friendship, of concern and empathy. He never pities himself but in that rare and long due articulation, where he wishes he had continued watching his wife laugh everyday at the same old jokes, you can comprehend the grief and loneliness he had been internalizing for so long.

Saajan of the letters is humorous, appreciative, nostalgic, sometimes mildly critical, and even fearful. Sometimes, I wonder how might his colleagues have reacted had they, like the child who didn’t shut him out anymore, ever got the chance to meet this Saajan Fernandes or endeavoured to know him like Shaikh did. It was always so endearing to see the happiness and excitement in his eyes when he waited for the lunchbox or read the letters, dressed up for the date, or opened up about having a girlfriend to Shaikh, much like a teenager experiencing his first romance.

And along his own journey of self discovery, Saajan too tapped into some facets of Ila and Shaikh, wallflowers that they were, thereby transcending social and religious barriers, and becoming the true beloved.