The Lift Boy Movie Review: A simple, heartwarming film that lifts your mood

Director Jonathan Augustin’s debut feature The Lift Boy is about the ups and downs in the life of 24-year-old Raju Tawde (Moin Khan), a boy who struggles to clear his engineering drawing exams. After failing four times, he is set to make his fifth attempt at clearing the obstacle that will lead him to becoming a qualified engineer.Having a lift-man husband, Raju's mother Laxmi (Neha Bam) is firm about wanting a better life for her son. However, as Raju's father Krishna Tawde (Saagar Kale) suffers from a heart attack and is advised complete bed rest for three weeks, Raju finds himself temporarily taking his father's place and working as the lift boy in a posh building. Raju's life takes a solid turn when he meets a woman named Maureen D’Souza (Nyla Masood), the building's firm but compassionate landlady. She is a painter who is working on what she is hoping to be her best creation. The film wonderfully shows how many meaningful relationships occur very organically in our lives. Raju and Ms D'souza are shown to share an unusual bond. They don't really know each other too well but Raju opens up to her about his dreams and aspirations. He tells her how he doesn’t want to be an engineer but a writer and how he spends his free time reading inside the lift. What is absurd is the fact that his writing aspirations are quickly side tracked in the film. When D’Souza starts giving Raju engineering lessons, he begins enjoying the same and forgets about his love for writing. After investing heavily in Raju’s future, the audience deserved to know more about what transpires from Raju's interest in writing and reading, what happens post his fifth attempt at engineering and how he chooses to do what he is doing. In spite of the lack of depth and detail in some aspects, The Lift Boy makes for an overall feel-good film that spreads happiness and inspires. It gives us a simple message that we might not always land up with a job we want or deserve but we always stand the chance to experience and achieve something very precious from whatever we are doing.The best part about the film is its ability to make you laugh and cry. Consider the scene where Raju has a midnight conversation with his father about job satisfaction or the one where Raju talks about how he ditched his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day so that he could get his scooter painted instead.With minimal set and props, a lot of attention is paid to building the connection between the characters which translates on screen and in turn connects the audience with the characters. Add to it simple static frames, witty dialougues and natural performances by all actors including Raju's parents, Maureen who plays the mentor with utmost conviction as well as Mrs Kapoor (Shilpa Iyer), who plays a former supermodel and the mother of Princess Kapoor (Aneesha Shah), a Bollywood aspirant. In spite of the lack of over-the-top drama and glamourous faces, this film, with its odd charm, manages to hold your attention.