'LION' which I caught earlier this week is a drama film Directed by first timer Garth Davis and is based on the autobiographical book 'A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierley and tells the story of his life as played out by Sunny Pawar as the young Saroo back home in India, and Dev Patel as the older Saroo at home in Australia. Already highly acclaimed by critics the world over, the film was made for just US$12M and has so far grossed US$28M plus twenty-two award wins and a further 67 nominations including the yet to be announced winners for this years BAFTA's for which it has five nominations as well as this years Academy Award nods for which it has six including Best Film and Best Supporting Actor/Actress nods for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman respectively. After premiering at TIFF in early September, the film went on a limited release in the US in late November before its wider release from January onward.
The story here starts with brothers Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and his older brother Guddu (Abhisek Bharate) in 1987 stealing coal from a moving train, so that they can purchase farm fresh milk from the local market to take home to their mother and young sister. It's all pretty innocent stuff and the two boys are the closest of siblings - looking out for each other, larking around and getting in and out of mischief. There is a genuine love for each other that is warmly displayed by the two young child Actors here, but most notably by the five year old Sunny Pawar who has a screen presence to behold, and you can't help but be captivated by his every move.
When Guddu wakes one night to go to work in a neighbouring village Saroo pleads with him to allow him to go along, showing off his strength and manual lifting prowess. Against his mothers wishes Guddu relents and the two disappear into the night. They arrive at a train station where Guddu orders Saroo to remain on a bench until he returns with orders for work. Saroo is fighting to stay awake and dozes off. Sometime later, Saroo wakes and it is still dark but there is no sign of his brother. He calls after Guddu repeatedly and marches up and down the platform and the tracks searching for his older brother but to no avail. He climbs onto a train and promptly falls asleep in a deserted carriage. He wakes later and the empty train is travelling at speed through unfamiliar territory. And so the train keeps travelling for 1,600kms with little Saroo its only passenger, eventually coming to a halt in far away Calcutta.
Saroo gets off the train hungry, thirsty and a long way from home, but still he calls out for Guddu and his Mum, not comprehending the enormity of the distance he has travelled or where he is. He cannot even speak the local dialect (Bengali) because he speaks Hindi. He is however, quick to adapt to his surroundings and proves to be quite resourceful, ever confident that he will someday be reunited with his Mum and his his brother, and how they too will be eagerly searching for him. Along the way over the several months that pass Saroo narrowly escapes being abducted, and then falling into the hands of a kindly gentleman who is not all who he seems. He eventually is handed over to the Police who after questioning place him into the hands of an orphanage where he remains being fed, watered and reasonably well cared for over several more months.
One day, the time comes when he is given the news that he has been adopted by an Australian family living in Tasmania - Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively). This is backed up by the news that the local authorities have searched in vain for his Mother, so far as posting photo's of young Saroo in the newspaper that has a readership of fifteen million. Later, we see Saroo board the plane with his carer, arrive in Hobart and receive a warm welcome by his new adoptive Mum and Dad. Saroo adapts well to his new family, and the three of them bond beyond anyone's expectations. A year or so later Sue and John adopt another young Indian lad, Mantosh, (Keshav Jadhav) who settles in less well to his new surroundings and rebels by self-harming.
Fast track two decades and Saroo is a grown adult living at home with his Mum and Dad and has plans for his life, while Mantosh has rebelled against the establishment and lives in a hut somewhere in Hobart's forest hinterland. Saroo is about to leave for Melbourne University where he is to study Hospitality Management with designs on owning his own hotel one day. Once in Melbourne he quickly befriends a number of Indian students and American girl Lucy (Rooney Mara). One evening over dinner at a student house, Saroo remembers a certain food from his childhood that is served, and in turn he confides in the group that he was adopted at a very young age and whilst he has a strong desire to trace back his family, he has scant memories and wouldn't know where to start. One of the students suggests that Saroo should use the new Google Earth application to search out his family and where he hailed from. It is 2008.
Meanwhile, Saroo and Lucy fall for each other, but as time progresses and Saroo's search draws nothing but blanks, so he retreats further inside himself at the expense of his relationship with Lucy. He breaks off his relationship, and in the meantime has said nothing to his parents Sue and John about his search for his birth mother, for fear that they will be offended, and that he would appear to them to be ungrateful. Sensing that Saroo is so pre-occupied and has distanced himself from his family, causes Sue to fall into a prolonged state of ill health. Later on Saroo visits his parents and in a touching moment he expresses his sorrow at Sue's inability to bear children. Unknown to him however, Sue was not infertile as Saroo had believed, but she and John all along chose to help other less fortunate children through adoption, rather than bolstering the worlds burgeoning population further.
By now several years have passed by since Saroo started his search on Google Earth. His room is adorned with maps of India, train timetables from the time, notes and random scribblings that his vague memories have revealed. One evening while feeling frustrated and helpless, he randomly scrolls though the Indian landscape on Google Earth, and notices a formation of rocks that held a familiarity to the place his mother worked. He narrows down the search zooming in on the landscape from above and discovers the place where he lived - a town called Khandwa, with the specific area known as Ganesh Talai. He reveals to his parents that he has found the location of his town and in his head he can retrace the steps exactly to his former home. He tells Lucy too, asking for her to wait for him to return. He boards a flight bound for India to complete the final leg of his 25 year search.
By now it is 2012, and Saroo arrives in Khandwa and sure enough is able to retrace those steps he took many many times as a young lad all those years ago. But his former family home is now a run down stable for goats and sundry livestock. Disheartened he comes across an English speaking local who understands him and beckons him to follow. Out onto the street he follows and is greeted by a procession of colourful Sari wearing women of all ages. At the front is Saroo's birth mother, Kamla Munshi (Priyanka Bose) and his sister. Their re-connection after all this time is emotional to say the least. A crowd gathers round and cheer as the three embrace, knowing that Kamla never gave up hope that her son would one day return.In the closing sequence we see real footage of the Brierly's visiting Kamla in Khandwa in 2013. We also learn that Saroo had been mispronouncing his name his entire life, and that in fact it is 'Sheru' - a derivative Hindi word for 'Lion'.
This really is a remarkable true story that avoids all the talking heads and voiceovers you might expect from such a production. It is a simple story told with a deft touch by this first time Director, underpinned by strong, grounded and believable performances from its cast - not the least being young Sunny Pawar who is the standout here caught between two very different worlds. But credit where it's due too to Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman for their performances also that keep it real and emotional. The second half labours in places, but this is only a minor criticism - after all, just how interesting can you make someone else relentless Google Earth search? Take a box of tissues for this uplifting weepie tale of loss, hope, belonging and identity. You won't be disappointed!
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
