A limited edition Indian theatrical release on 18th Jan 2019 with houseful shows, a theatrical release in UAE on 18th April 2019, hitting theaters across Taiwan on 2nd August 2019, being acquired by Channel 4 UK, and then Netflix acquiring worldwide streaming rights on 3rd April 2020. This is the journey of THE LIFT BOY 🍿🎥 in a nutshell for you!
A couple of nights back, I brought out the popcorn to watch the movie on Netflix, and each time me or my parents had to get off our seats, the movie was being paused by either of us. That’s the effect it had on us, and we’re sure it will be the same for you too. You wouldn’t want to miss even one of the 107 minutes of the film’s running time.
With a little bit of English (70%) and a bit of Hindi (30%) too, it’s not your typical Bollywood blockbuster with romantic songs, thrilling action or a star-studded cast. It’s a simple story sure to touch every heart that watches it. Not many would say that this was the directorial debut of Jonathan Augustin, and the first time on screen for many of those in the film too.
Founder of Caroline Pictures, Augustin is your typical Bombay boy, born and brought up in the city, having completed his schooling in OLPS High School in Chembur before doing a couple of years of studies in St Xavier’s College (which is also pictured in the film) and then spending 7 years in Bournemouth, UK, where he completed his Bachelors in Advertising and Marketing, and Mastered in Advertising.
He worked a few media/creative jobs there before realizing how none of them were really fulfilling and that film-making was always his kick. The 28-year old writer, director, and producer built The Lift Boy from scratch, right from ideation to making sure the movie reached several film festivals to then selling the rights to Netflix, the Digital Premier of which was on Monday, 27th April 2020.
Slowly but steadily, the movie is reaching out to mass audiences across the country and the world itself. Wanting to know more about the brains and hard work that went behind putting up this masterpiece, Read Scoops reached out to Augustin for an exclusive interview on the success story of THE LIFT BOY and you can keep reading for more details on the same…
The Lift Boy social profiles 🌐:
The idea for the movie was actually from an actual experience with a lift operator. A beautiful film on passion and reality, it sends across a message that you won’t want to miss. From a personal perspective, I believe this movie deserves tons of accolades and we had plenty to ask Jonathan Augustin 📽️🎬 during our chat with him. Here’s how he narrated the inspiration for making the film…
“It was an idea that came to me and I wrote the script for this. I can’t remember the exact day but the date was 4th March 2015. I had an encounter with this lift boy in Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla. I’d gone there to watch a movie. I enter, I park my vehicle and get into the lift. There were people coming into the lift, so this guy kept it on hold. There’s another guy who walks in on the next floor and he starts blasting the lift boy because he was waiting there for a long time. After the blasting, the lift boy just looks at him and says, ‘Sir, main sirf button dabata hoon’. There was a lot of warmth in his eyes and they were a bit moist. At that point, there was an epiphany. I just walked off, I watched my film, I came out and then for some reason, that young boy’s face just remained at the back of my mind and just kept lingering around. That’s when I thought to myself, okay, why don’t I make a film called The Lift Boy?!”
How did you select each of the cast members? Were any known to you previously?
“Absolutely not. Each cast member was hand picked and auditioned and selected. I stumbled upon Damian Alexander D’Souza’s (Shawn Lobo) profile on Facebook and we called him in. Total non-actor. We auditioned and we did a lot of workshops and rehearsals with him, because he was a non-actor. And the rest is history. The film’s on Netflix and a lot of people are liking his work.”
“Moin Khan (Raju Tawade) again came in for an audition and was cast for that. Nyla Masood (Maureen D’Souza) was found in a shopping mall, so each actor was cast and a lot of them were non-actors. But it was fun! The film’s in English, so it was important to get actors who sound seamless and not funny. When Indians speak in English especially in films and television, for some reason we sound funny; we don’t sound normal. If you look at this, it’s very realistic. The focus was to get people who could bring these characters to life.”
How do you feel about having your film on a platform like Netflix?
“See Netflix is every filmmaker’s dream. Deep down when I started this journey and we were all working on the film, I manifested to the universe that I would love to have the film on Netflix and I knew when I wrote the title of the film on that piece of paper that this film belongs on Netflix. Even as a seed idea, the idea was the film belongs on Netflix and after its theatrical release, it should go on a great platform and that platform should be Netflix. So, I’m glad it worked out. We manifested what we wanted and desired, and we all really worked hard and Netflix acquired the film, so it’s very nice. It feels really good, it’s like surreal. It’s great when you have a plan and it works out as per your plan. It’s mainly when you have the desire and you set the framework to achieve your goals. When you’re able to achieve them, it feels nice.”
How did the deal of Netflix adding The Lift Boy to its platform take place?
“This happened on 3rd April 2020 when we sold the film to Netflix. The film went live and had its worldwide digital premiere on Netflix on 27th April 2020, that was exactly a few days ago. The film has premiered worldwide in 190 countries, available to 183 million subscribers, so it’s exciting. I’m glad this happened. It’s been a long journey and we actually had many more things planned out. We released in theaters on 18th Jan 2019 and this year, in the month of June, we had scheduled a theatrical release in North America, South Africa, France and Singapore, and then premiering the film on a digital platform in December 2020.”
“However, this whole COVID-19 pandemic derailed our plans. We had to alter our business model and prepone our digital premiere, so that’s how the Netflix deal happened now. I think it’s a great time for the film to premiere on Netflix. It’s a nice and sweet, feel-good film. During these times, people are sad and there’s nothing much to be happy about, so in these sad and difficult times, this film will certainly uplift your spirits. And that’s what The Lift Boy endeavours to do.”
Films don’t usually get a second innings like yours has almost a year and a half after being released…
“I don’t think this is a second innings per se. Yeah, you can call it that but it’s a phase in the journey of the film. If you look at the history of film distribution back in the day (I’m talking about 1970s-80s), by the time a film came on television, it was a good 2 years right?! So, for a small, independent film like The Lift Boy, you can’t have the same distribution strategy as a mainstream Bollywood film or any film for that matter. It has to be tailor-made, it has to be customized. The minute we decided to release the film on 18th Jan 2019 in India, we had a framework and plan of action in place for simultaneous theatrical release across the globe. Basically, it comes under scattered theatrical release. So everything was very well planned and curated and we tried our best to stick to the plan and if obstacles came up, we had to take them in our stride and adjust our expectations and our plans, and work and react accordingly…”
“So, we had a 3-day limited edition theatrical release on 18th Jan 2019 in India. Our shows were going houseful and that was really nice. We released in UAE on 18th April 2019; in theaters for 2 weeks in UAE. We released in Taiwan on 2nd August 2019; in theaters for 3 weeks in Taiwan, so it’s really good. The film had a really good audience. It later got acquired by Channel 4 UK. That’s one of the great milestones, being one of the best channels in the UK. We sold our film to airlines like China Airlines, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, and there’s more to come. We had our North American theatrical planned out for June 2020, we had a theatrical plan for South Africa, France and Singapore as well but this pandemic made us prepone our plan. We had to skip additional theatrical releases and go straight to a platform. But it’s all worked out fine. Each film has its course and its journey and you have to just stay through it.”
The Lift Boy was your directorial debut, right?! Any films you’ve done after it?
“It was my directorial debut, absolutely. My first feature film. Really happy about it. Well, I’m still working on The Lift Boy, we still have something very sweet brewing in China, which is a very big market for a movie like this. And China has its own streaming platforms and they’re massive – streaming and theatrical. We’re focussing on a theatrical release in China because it’s totally isolated and is like a planet in itself, so that’s exciting. Our aim is to have a theatrical in China but I don’t know when the theaters in China are going to open. If they do open, they would be the first to open, and that’s something I’m confident about.”
“Now that the film is on Netflix, my work is over on this but I’ve been writing quite a bit, so my next film’s an adventure-horror film. It’s a nice one, it’s called WARD BOY Manu Voodoo, which is an exciting adventure-horror film that I’m working on. The script’s ready. We were to start pre-production and casting in the month of March but things have got a bit derailed due to the pandemic. I see the film starting somewhere next year. We plan to shoot next year and then we will most likely release it in 2022. The idea was to release the film in December 2021 because it’s a nice adventure-horror story, perfect for Christmas. It has the backdrop of Christmas. It has the Christmas horror set up.”
Which has been your favourite part of The Lift Boy journey so far?
“I think this was at Goa Film Bazaar. Nasreen Munni Kabir was someone I really wanted to watch the film and she watched it and she came up to me and said she wants to acquire it for Channel 4. That was a milestone and an amazing day. Another day which was a little overwhelming and I was lost for words was the first day of our theatrical release. That day was really nice too.”
“OKAY, I got it. On 9th Feb 2019, Book A Smile committed 10,000 tickets and finally screened the film to about 4,500 underprivileged kids across different cities in India. That day, we were all invited but our people were busy, so it was just me, Moin and Saagar Kale, as Nyla was traveling at that point. That screening, Moin and Saagar felt like movie stars. When I say felt like movie stars, it was that sheer excitement of all these kids and viewers enjoying the film and cheering for their actors and having an engaging Q&A too. I think that was the most remarkable day – the screening on 9th Feb. It was very nice.”
Anything else you’d like to add for our viewers?
“Well, all I can say is thank you for giving The Lift Boy life. We make films for an audience. I know it’s an independent film but the whole idea of making an independent film is that you don’t want to end up watching it independently, but you want it to be viewed by a massive audience. I’m delighted the film is on Netflix. Please do make time to watch the film on Netflix and talk about it, spread love, spread the news about The Lift Boy if you like the film. I hope it lifts your spirits.”
During our chat, Augustin called himself a strong believer of philosophy who reflects a lot and thinks a lot, having also studied Karl Marx and dwelving on things that metaphorically express and summarize the purpose and meaning of life. Clearly, he managed to do that in this minimalistic film. His first feature film reached Netflix, a dream come true for many writers and directors across the world.
He made a film that will leave you spellbound, and there are plenty more to come from him, for sure! On a parting note, I’m leaving you with some words of wisdom from our chat with Jonathan, having said, “Life is like a lift. Sometimes it takes you up, sometimes it takes you down, depending on the buttons you press (the choices you make), so remember to push the right buttons.”
It has just been a few days since the worldwide launch of The Lift Boy on Netflix and it’s already getting a banging response from a number of countries across the world. On behalf of the entire team at Read Scoops, I thank Jonathan for taking the time out for this interview and wish him luck for upcoming projects as well. Until then, keep reading for features with other cast members of the film too!
– Dwayne Fernandes, Read Scoops
(Twitter – @dwayneeeboy, Instagram – @dwayneeeboy)
