| Release date: 25 November 2016 (USA) Genre: Biography, drama IMDb rating: 8.0 Director: Garth Davis Cast: Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Priyanka Bose, Rooney Mara, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui |
I remember the first time I saw the ‘Lion’ movie. It was during the Oscar season when it was nominated for best picture and the hype was all high. I still remember how it made me feel the first time watching this amazing story, it was exhilarating and heartwarming. And now after all these years, I rewatched the film again. And I certainly didn’t expect to have that same experience all over again.
‘Lion’ is based on the real story of Saroo Brierley, who as a young child, gets separated from his family and finds himself lost in a distant city with no means of finding his family again. Later he is adopted by an Australian couple and lives a normal enough life. But Saroo never loses his hope of finding his real family, taking help from Google Earth of all things. It’s said that truth is always stranger than fiction so it comes as no surprise that such a harrowing and mind-boggling journey is a true story. Based on the book “A Long Way Home” written by Saroo Brierley himself, ‘Lion’ is a fantastic piece of adaptation that does a great job of bringing to life a beautiful story of love and perseverance.
But I don’t give much thought to whether a film is Oscar bait or not. In the end, it has to be a movie that does justice to its material and provokes the appropriate emotions. ‘Lion’ does that for me and that’s why I’m here talking about it.
People were quick to label it as Oscar bait, given the nature of the story and a certain company who produced it.
At that time I thought casting Dev Patel as an Indian-origin person was just lazy casting. But now I’ve come to appreciate the talent of the guy who started of with a bang in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Dev Patel does a fantastic job as the Saroo Brierley who feels disjointed in life concerning his identity and what his heart yearns to know about his real family. His adoptive parents played by Nicole Kidman and David Denham were also great additions, with Kidman once again proving that she can finesse however small a role is. But the real star of the film is undoubtedly Sunny Pawar. As the young Saroo, Sunny steals each and every one of his scenes. Whether it’s wrenching our hearts with his predicament or making our hearts warm with his glee and smile, Sunny Pawar does everything brilliantly. It’s a travesty that he didn’t get the same awards recognition.
As I said before this was a rewatch. I knew what happened and how it happened so I expected it to lack the punch that I experienced the first time. But I was pleasantly surprised when the film packed the same emotional wallop, (maybe even more I think). The sublime yet swelling music, stunning cinematography, and the awesome Dev Patel pull it off. For the last 20 minutes, my eyes kept leaking tears. Once again it reminded me that some movie moments always have their intended effect when made beautifully. Total kudos to the filmmakers!
‘Lion’ was up against some tough competitors at the Oscars so it’s no wonder that it lost. The “La La Land/Moonlight” debacle might’ve been the highlight of that year but it’s also worth mentioning there were plenty of other films to notice and appreciate among that pool. ‘Lion’ movie was one of them.
It might not have roared that night but you must certainly experience its magnificent tale at least once.
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My verdict: 9/10
Contributed by: Maddy
