WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Best laid plans are never an assurance, no matter what stage in life you might find yourself. More so when we’re young and, honestly, not wanting to take on much genuine responsibility, it seems that’s exactly when the need to step up and stand out arrives. Are we prepared for this? Often not. Will we gain the realization of the importance dependability brings? This remains to be seen. For 24-year old Raju Tawade (Moin Khan), life has been, well, an adventure. Striving to become what his parents desire–an engineer–the pursuit has been less than fruitful after multiple attempts to make it succeed. Becoming frustrated and somewhat lazy about it, Raju struggles under the continuing pressure of expectations.
However, when his hard-working father Krishna’s (Saagar Kale) health takes a sudden turn for the worse, Raju finds himself having to take on a new job as a lift boy for the posh Mumbai apartment complex his father worked for. In complete denial and not wanting anything to do with it, Raju comes under the wings of the building’s owner Maureen (Nyla Masood), who methodically guides Raju in his duties, but also in accepting his circumstances, evolving with and through them, and coming out the other side a changed, focused, and more confident person, all while encountering the building’s other eclectic residents who likewise he learns from and even manages to influence for the better. In the end, how they all experience transformations will be key.
Next, my Mind:
What become the first of only two exclusive North American premiers at the 2019 Dallas Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival sponsored by Toyota USA, this feature-length dramedy from writer/director/producer Jonathan Augustine ultimately left things to be both desired and entertained by during its 107-minute runtime, which in itself seemed perhaps JUST a tad too long in supporting its straightforward narrative about one lovable slacker’s awakening to real life and responsibility when the primary money-maker in the family takes ill. Soon, there is an entirely new realm of existence and community he must face, having no choice but to suck it up and make the most of it, though how he accomplishes this may be in question unless being open to the ideas he’s made privy to by the building’s landlord who becomes both boss and mentor along the way.
Mainly delivered in English, which admittedly assisted this critic to be that much more focused on the film itself when not required to read many subtitles, thematic explorations that encompass the concepts of what it is to allow frustration and familial pressure lead to laziness rather than motivation, thinking that just sliding by might actually be ok, facing reality when things aren’t going our way, stepping up in times of need, considering others beyond ourselves, realizing that work in any form ultimately does service for others, the value of listening to wise counsel, the importance of doing our best at anything we put our hands and mind to, being open to experience new endeavors and build new relationships while acknowledging the impact they have on our paths, it’s all here and expanded on, certainly valid notions to present in a character-driven effort. Yet, somehow, the film felt bogged down a little by this as well, again pointing to what might have been done more justice if the film was about 15-20 minutes shorter.
It just felt a little too predictable, I think is what it came down to, and again, experienced a sense of losing momentum at points along the way as well. Now, there were plenty of chuckle-worthy moments throughout, especially when it came to Raju’s interactions with the many denizens of the uppity apartment complex he runs the lift for while his father is incapacitated. It’s a grander fish out of water scenario, as Raju really cannot relate to any of these people at first, hence making the trips up and down the lift an exercise in comedic silliness as he strives to just make it through the days without becoming overtly bored and more deeply disinterested in such “menial” work. Other more humorous moments do come from Raju’s best friend Shawn (Damian D’Souza) who while successful in work isn’t necessarily the greatest in overall social conventions and manners. But, despite these light-hearted escapades and interludes, it all became a bit stale in context of a story I was seeking more emotional investment in and from as a whole, as even the dramatic elements, while good, didn’t really hit me sqaure in the heart as I was anticipating, especially given the film’s finale.
The greatest strengths the film offered were with the characters themselves, whom I personally found great engagement with during the film’s entirety, along with the actors portraying them. We of course start with Khan in his role as Raju, an early 20-something who just cannot seem to get it together no matter how hard he tries. Under the burden of expectations his parents have for him to follow a “typical” career path in engineering, his failure to achieve it has simply caused general apathy to set in, much to his family’s aggravation. This all gets altered, however, when circumstances cause his father to fall ill, forcing Raju to take on the job of lift boy at a posh Mumbai apartment building, much to his exasperated displeasure. Yet, as he is introduced to the building’s residents along with the building manager who takes him under her wing, Raju begins to learn the value of letting go of denial, taking charge of his present, showing the ways he is growing in life perspective, and finally become an example of mastering his identity and being fulfilled with having discovered a new purpose, drive–and even love. Khan is highly entertaining and delivers both hilarity and drama with equal measure of poise.
Masood enacts the wizened sage-type character in her turn as Maureen, the building owner for the complex Raju works at who soon endears herself to the young man and becomes someone whose advice he initially, though playfully, laments before full accepting the fact she has deeply impacted his journey to the extent she has. Her tough love approach with Raju, carried out with both soft-spoken and more blatant manner, is smartly utilized to shape Raju into someone totally different than when he started, and his appreciation of her carries through until the end when circumstance finds a way to change their relationship forever and leave the lasting impression it’s meant to. Throughout this process, Masood greatly embodies an authority figure outside Raju’s parents she needs to be to aid in initiating the transformation he undergoes, and the performance is noteworthy as such. It’s a due that reminds us of the value of mentors, those who give us that opinion and direction that others closer to us may not always provide in the ways we require, and I certainly found meaning in what Raju and Maureen created with their bond.
Supporting players are numerous and highly integral to Raju’s story, including Kale as Raju’s father Krishna, a man of humble but proud success in the hard work he puts forth to provide for his family, even with his growing frustrations with Raju’s laziness and lack of overall initiative. When Krishna’s illness forces him to the sideline, he can only hope Raju steps up and the relationship between the two grow to new levels of understanding and respect. Neha Bam plays Krishna’s wife/Raju’s mother Laxmi, who also gets herself in a bit of a snit at Raju’s somewhat cavalier attitude about his career and future. But, like Krishna, she loves her son and only wishes what’s best, even if she must get a little cross with him to spur him into action. Damian D’Souza, as previously mentioned above, appears as Raju’s best bud Shawn, who we really think might not always be the best influence on Raju, yet we cannot help but be totally amused by his quite witty antics. Nil Mani arrives as the building’s watchman, who really seems to spend more time counting sheep than paying attention to anything else happening outside the building.
Then we have the building residents, who are a wonderfully colorful and often hilarious crew of lovable misfits including Shilpa Iyer as the high-falutin Mrs. Kapoor, who treats Raju with a rather blatant level of arrogant neglect at first, Aneesha Shah as “Princess” Kapoor, Shilpa’s young, vibrant, bubbly, beautiful daughter who takes a fancy to Raju in the most innocently endearing ways and manner, their crazy cute interactions hard to ignore, Kaustubh Narain as Cyrus Mistry, a rather boisterous man whom Raju isn’t quite sure what to think about in their initial encounters, Pallas Prajapati as Cyrus’ young son Boman, Jigna Khajuria as Lata, Sonali Singh as a neighbor lady, Dhanveer Singh as Chottu, and Santosh Mohite as Mama. In total, while the film fell short for me in the way the story felt a little too formulaic and unsurprising, lacking that “Wow!” factor I was expecting it to send my way, “The Lift Boy” is worthy in the characters it provides us to become attached to, the significant amount of underlying life lessons it contains, the multitude of laughs it does induce, and certainly acts as a decent launching pad for Augustine to further develop his promising filmmaking aptitude and Khan who’s made his initial jump into the indie film pool.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
