For starters, please sit with a box of tissues for this one. It will tug at your heart-strings in the best and worst possible way. If you haven’t cried by the end of this movie, ask a doctor to check your cold cold heart.
Garth Davis’ Oscar-nominated film is the heart-wrenching true story of five-year-old Saroo, who gets separated from his mother and brother in India. He’s dragged to the busy city of Kolkata, and there starts his struggle of survival. He eventually ends up in a crowded orphanage, where a childless Australian couple, played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, adopt him. Twenty-five years later, Saroo with the help of Google Earth finally finds his birth mother.
Based on a book written by the man the movie is based on, Lion is backed by a terrific screenplay. What makes it one of the movies of the year are the spectacular performances. The starry-eyed kid, played by Sunny Pawar, will leave you awestruck in every scene. Oscar nominated for their roles, Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman are truly deserving candidates. Their characters face internal struggles which the actors portray with a grace that is rarely seen. These three are the pillars of the movie and they do justice to it. Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui make an impressive guest appearance.
Is it overrated? Hell no. Infact, it’s sad that people go to watch movies like this after they have received nomination for Oscars or Golden Globes. There is a scene towards the end when you finally see a weight lift off Dev Patel’s shoulder, and suddenly, you feel something lift your shoulder too. You feel his pain, his happiness and more than anything – you love his story. If this isn’t a beautiful marriage of content and storytelling, then what is?
We give Lion 4 buzzing bees.
