Saroo and his brother Guddu from a village near Khandwa, help their mother in any way they can to run the family. A fateful night has Saroo stranded on a train that takes him to the faraway city of Calcutta where he struggles to find a home before social workers send him to Australia to live with Sue and John Brierley, his adoptive parents. After spending 20 years as a Brierley, he still frets over the unfruitful searches his biological family would have made and vows to do the unthinkable – find them!
Language:
English
Running Time:
120 min
Rating:
PG-13 (MPAA)
Release date:
24 November 2016
Directed by:
Garth Davis
Produced by:
Angie Fielder
Emile Sherman
Iain Canning
Written by:
Luke Davies
Adapted from Novel by Saroo Brierley
Starring:
Dev Patel
Nicole Kidman
Rooney Mara
Aditya Roy Kapoor
Deepti Naval
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Music by:
Dustin O’Halloran
Volker Bertelmann
Shot by:
Greig Fraser
Editing by:
Alexandre de Franceschi
Distributed by:
Batrax Entertainment
Entertainment Film Distributors
Film & TV House
Golden Village Pictures
Transmission Films
Weinstein Company

What’s Hot

  • Nicole Kidman radiates in every scene she is a part of, the skill accumulated over the many decades of her acting career. She emotes just perfectly as the aging mother of two adopted sons and the exchange with Dev Patel towards the end of the movie is quite probably the most touching segment of the movie!
  • Dev Patel’s episodes of breakdown and frustration as an emotional wreck caught between the blinding love of his foster mother and the mere thought of a desperate biological mother spending her life in anxiety has to be one of the best in recent times. The feeling is so real and palpable in the climax and the build up to it – a performance that is sure to have his competition at the academy awards, squirming!
  • The music score from Hauschka and Dustin O’Halloran is undoubtedly the lifeline that underlines the long and dramatic montages from Saroo’s past and his struggles in the present day as he fights the odds. It brings out the soul of the film in a timely manner across the different phases, the lead character goes through.
  • The visual style imparted by Greig Fraser’s lens is truly magical for its mellow tones all over the portions shot in India. Even the ones shot in Australia are not over the top and shown in accordance with the mood of the narrative. If the same man can wield the camera for a grand opus like the latest Star Wars installment, it talks volumes about his versatility!

What’s Not

  • The lethargic pace at which the narrative stumbles into towards the end feels a tad too stretched beyond limits considering the state of the audience who are already drowned in gut-wrenching emotions – an avenue where the screenplay and editing could have been smarter!
  • The quick emotional turnaround of Saroo after 20 years of being a Brierley seem forced especially due to the circumstances that trigger that which felt unconvincing. Maybe a better character sketch from the director with a Saroo growing into the Brierley family was needed to assert the same.

Badges

Acting
Music
Cinematography

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Narrating a touching tale of the search for long lost relationships at a lethargic pace, ‘Lion’ thrives on the remarkable acting prowess of the lead cast
who dish out emotional performances, making it an experience close to the heart!