The Lunchbox follows Rahul, a 7-year-old South Asian boy, who gets teased for bringing in Indian food to school. And so trying his hardest to fit in, he ends up excluding himself from his own culture, by first refusing to speak the language at home, to not participating in a Hindu festival that evening and finally taking a more dangerous permanent step. At the same time his mum, Deepika, tries desperately to connect with her son, eventually coming to a compromise, as they come to accept each other's struggles with their heritage.