Play "LIFT KARA DE" ... Not a Lifting experience. Review on Lift Kara De

Having high expectations often results in disappointments. And that was the case when I watched Poor Box Productions’ hindi play “Lift Kara De”.

I wanted to watch this play when it was in theatres last season but couldn’t manage… One of the disadvantages of staying in Navi Mumbai… Travelling to late shows in Mumbai becomes a little difficult. But this time when I heard it is being performed at Experimental Theatre, I jumped at the opportunity. Why was I so excited? Because names like Mehabanoo Mody Kotwal(Vagina Monologues fame), Jayati Bhatia, Atul Kulkarni and Shiamak Davar(choreography) were associated with it. Obviously I had high expectations.

Play opens with three actors on stage… Goldie(Sid Makkar), Meena(Sonali Sachdev) and Teena(Sarosh Nanavaty), each having his/her own frustrations in life… and a lift(elevator) that talks. There were three background voices …. Lift(Jayati Bhatia), automatic call voice(Dolly Thacore) and Siddharth(Atul Kulkarni). While the actors on stage are certainly good… the more powerful actors remained in background.

The credits for story/playwriting of this play are with Nitin Gupta and Kaizad Kotwal. Story? What story? It was just a situation. Hardly any story involved.

It is supposed to be a hillarious comedy. There certainly were many moments which brought smiles, chuckles and giggles from the audience but hardly any full hearted laughter. Goldie and Meena were stuck in a lift, or probably made to get stuck with Teena hovering outside with her own problems. They talk, fight, sing and dance and then talk some more… with regular interruptions from Teena and Siddharth who was advising Goldie on how to seduce a women in the lift.

Meena’s characterization was the best. It was clear what she wanted, what kind of frustrations and ambitions she had in life and what she wanted. But Goldie was a mystery. Now what were his intentions? Was he trying to woo her because he loved or at least liked her? Or just wanted to seduce her, with a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of laced juice, in a stuck lift . He was trying to portray himself as a simple and good guy but intentions were hardly honourable. Teena was another mess. Threatening to commit suicide at the drop of a hat, she hardly looked that distressed.

The background voices were really doing a great job. Dolly Thacore(Cellphone) was really amusing. Jayati as lift was also good… though I’d have preferred her to be on stage and Atul Kulkarni was strong and convincing as ever.

Well even the on stage actors did a good job of what they had in hand. But how long can you carry a show without a powerful script? I feel the acting skills of Sonali Sachdev and Sid Makkar were not exploited to full extent. Sonali was particularly good when she was sleeping(No I am not being sarcastic… she was lifted, made to stand and dragged around by Sid and she acted really natural as if in a deep sleep)

We expected some good dancing action as Shiamak Davar was associated with the play as choreographer. But were disappointed as the song and dance sequence was very average and didn’t really need a name like Shiamak. The finesse that is a normal feature of any Shiamak show was missing. Moreover it was extended for quite some time and seemed more like a ploy to extend the play for some more time as the original theme would have finished in less than an hour.

Good points of the play were…. A simple but impressive stage setting, good acting, powerful background voices and good lighting. Sound mixing could have been improved as the cellphone voice was louder than the person talking. Language and dialogues were simple and good except at one of two points when they were a little crude and embarrassing for the family.

Overall… Not very impressive. This team could have done wonders……And I am sure with a little effort it can be improved a lot.

Mehabanoo ji…. Kripaya thoda aur effort lagaiye aur is play ko Lift Kara Dijiye….