Having acted in 199 films, Sunder Raj has always tried to ensure that he is part of projects which have a certain subtlety, touching upon realistic experiences, and in way altering the world of the audience. So, when he was approached to play the role of Kaverappa, a real life liftman, he did not think twice.
Titled Lift Man, the film about a lift operator at Vidhana Soudha, who retired from the same position after 20 years, marks Sunder Raj’s 200th film. The shooting has concluded now the actor is curiously waiting to see its release.
According to him, the last time he really enjoyed the acting process was in the 1980 film Anveshane. “After that I can state that Lift Man is another project which I thoroughly enjoyed. With age only certain kind of roles can be enjoyed, and one happens to be this film,” he says.
The senior actor, who is known for his versatility but has never believed in doing run-of-the-mill romantic or action movies, admits that such ventures are fine when it comes to commercial priorities. “Even though Lift Man doesn’t fall in this bracket, it will still be a commercial outing because it is about a common man,” says Sunder Raj, who adds, “Any characters related to auto drivers, conductors or a lift man cannot be shown as a six-pack hero. They cannot be portrayed as a super human either. One such character is
Kaverappa.”
Produced by Ram Naik, the actor says that he has been an instrumental in turning Lift Man into a commercial flick. “The story is written by a journalist Chandra Barkur and is helmed by Karanji Sridhar, who is also a journalist. They happened to be big fans of mine and wanted to make the film with me. The story explores Kaverappa’s life in the lift and throws light on his personal front. Being a lift operator, a job which he got through an IAS officer, he sees various politicians, right from Chief Ministers to Prime Ministers and their sons. The film explores his subsequent life changing experiences,” he informs and
adds that after getting into the character, he felt that there is a lift man in all of us.
The film also features many award winning artistes, including Suresh Heblikar, Aruna Balraj, Sunil Puranik, Sheetal Shetty, Niharika among others. “I managed to bring in music director Praveen Kodkindi with Nani as cinematographer,” he says.