He has rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of Karnataka politics and occasionally national politics too, though his own life has remained “ordinary”. The life of the lift operator of the north entrance of the Vidhana Soudha for 20 years, Kaverappa (59), has now inspired a film.
Film-maker Sreedhar’s film Liftman is based on the life of Mr. Kaverappa, with veteran film and theatre actor Sundar Raj essaying the main role.
The film views the changing fortunes of politicians through the eyes of the lift operator (Manjappa in the film) who takes them up and down every day. He sees an ordinary party worker become a Minister and men in positions of power plummet down. Through all this, the life of the operator itself remains completely unchanged and untouched by the power struggle around him.
The film is based on a novel by the same name by Mr. Sreedhar’s friend Chandra Barkur, who spent time with Mr. Kaverappa before finalising the script. “Lift is a metaphor for life. The story unfolds through both the emotional and very mechanical aspects of the life of a lift operator,” says Mr. Sridhar. The film is expected to hit the screens in September.
Meanwhile, in real life, Mr. Kaverappa pedals 16 km from his residence at Vibhutipura to work about seven hours a day in the metal box.
An extremely reticent man, he says: “After serving for long in various sections of the Vidhana Soudha since 1983, I became a lift operator when J.H. Patel became the Chief Minister. Since then I have served seven Chief Ministers and seen Ministers and legislators walk in and out of the lift.” He recalls that he twice took the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also in the lift.
Mr. Kaverappa is due to retire in six months, but says that his wife, Narayanamma, has still not seen the grand State secretariat building.
