With half a dozen Oscar nominations, worldwide critical acclaim and buzzing excitement about a little Indian boy Sunny Pawar, Lion is roaring its way to success. But it’s our desi connection that is frankly giving us the real high. Hamara Dev Patel in a story with Indian roots and shot in Kolkata – what more does a sachha desh bhakt need!
Lion could have stretched credulity to a snapping point had it not been true. Screenwriter Luke Davies makes Saroo Brierley’s real life story the basis as he tries to harness the principle elements of pain, loss and discovery of self into an engaging plot.
The story starts in the little town of Khandwa. The year is 1986 . Guddu and his younger brother Saroo steal coal from freight trains as their mother squatting on her haunches waits for them to get some food. It seems like a daily struggle to even have a hand-to-mouth existence.
As Guddu leaves in search of work and Saroo insists on accompanying him, we soon get invested in the life of the earnest looking young boy as he gets separated from his brother, trapped in a train and winds up in Kolkata. Lost, hungry and confused, he frantically looks for his brother and mother, but all in vain till a fortunate stroke of serendipity gets him to an orphanage. A lovely couple from Tasmania adopt him and that opens a whole new world of possibilities for little Saroo.
Saroo’s story has been widely covered in the media and therefore Lion is no thriller, but it is to the credit of director Garth Davis for carefully crafting such a taut and gripping drama.
The grime and grotesqueness of the city is captured as he dunks the tale into a chilling reality. What if Saroo wasn’t saved? Would he have ended up as one of the million nameless souls sleeping on the footpath with no hope of redeeming their dark lives? These are thoughts that keep us company as we see the incredible story of Saroo’s discovery of his roots.
Google Earth, as the deus ex machina, facilitates his reunion with his mother who refused to give up hope of meeting her son. The mother-child bond, the triumph of hope and human spirit are universal themes bound to resonate with global audiences.
Both Nicole Kidman and Priyanka Bose as Saroo’s adoptive and biological mothers respectively give exuberant performances. Rooney Mara as his love interest Sue is effective enough and Dev Patel as the adult Saroo plays his part vociferously. But the brightest star in the constellation is Sunny Pawar. The 5-year-old with his earnest expression and deep-searching eyes settles into his role so beautifully that Lion wouldn’t be half the film that it is, if not for him. He is the real hero!
Post interval, when the plot wobbles for some time as the now grown up Saroo’s visual memories trigger up in a somewhat sudden and contrived fashion, it is Sunny Pawar’s astonishingly accomplished performance that keeps us hooked.
Lion paints an immersive journey back to ones roots. It makes a definitive roar, thanks to the beautiful moments of lull as seen through a little boy’s eyes. I give it 4 QUINTS out of 5.
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