Lion (2016)

A five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple after getting lost hundreds of kilometers from home. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

Director:

Garth Davis

Writers:

Saroo Brierley (adapted from the book "A Long Way Home" by), Luke Davies (screenplay by)

Stars:

Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 59 wins & 98 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sunny Pawar	...	Young Saroo
Abhishek Bharate	...	Guddu
Priyanka Bose	...	Kamla
Khushi Solanki	...	Young Shekila
Shankar Nisode	...	Shankar
Tannishtha Chatterjee	...	Noor
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	...	Rama
Riddhi Sen	...	Café Man
Koushik Sen	...	Police Official
Rita Boy	...	Amita
Udayshankar Pal	...	Liluah Teacher (as Uday Shankar Paul)
Surojit Das	...	Shonedeep / Haunted Boy
Deepti Naval	...	Mrs. Sood
Menik Gooneratne	...	Swarmina
David Wenham	...	John Brierley

Storyline

In 1986, Saroo was a five-year-old child in India of a poor but happy rural family. On a trip with his brother, Saroo soon finds himself alone and trapped in a moving decommissioned passenger train that takes him to Calcutta, 1000 miles away from home. Now totally lost in an alien urban environment and too young to identify either himself or his home to the authorities, Saroo struggles to survive as a street child until he is sent to an orphanage. Soon, Saroo is selected to be adopted by the Brierley family in Tasmania, where he grows up in a loving, prosperous home. However, for all his material good fortune, Saroo finds himself plagued by his memories of his lost family in his adulthood and tries to search for them even as his guilt drives him to hide this quest from his adoptive parents and his girlfriend. Only when he has an epiphany does he realize not only the answers he needs, but also the steadfast love that he has always had with all his loved ones in both worlds.

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Plot Keywords:

adoption | india | tasmania | orphanage | street child | 

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Taglines:

The true story of a life lost and found

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real-life Brierley family was invited on set and visited the production that took place in Tasmania.

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Goofs

Most trains shown in this movie are liveried in blue. However, around 1986, Indian passenger trains were predominantly painted maroon. The switch to blue only started in the late 90s.

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Quotes

Saroo Brierley: Do you have any idea what it's like knowing my real brother and mother spending every day of their lives looking for me? Huh? How every day my real brother screams my name? Can you imagine the pain they must be in not knowing where I am?

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Crazy Credits

There is no opening title card, only opening credits; the title card doesn't appear until the end.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Express: Episode #15.2 (2017)

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Soundtracks

The Sun, the Sand and the Sea
Written by Buddy Scott/Jimmy Radcliffe
(Liscris Music Inc.)
Performed by Picturetone Pete
Licensed courtesy of Liscris Productions

User Reviews

Couldn't stop crying

This is such a beautiful film, with a simple story line, without any frills.

A young Indian boy leaves their village with his older brother to do some "jobs", in one of these jobs he gets lost and cannot find his way back home. Pass some years and he's adopted by a family from Australia, and when that boy becomes an adult, he starts wondering where he's actually from.

It deals with aspects of origin and identity, and that we cannot escape from who we really are.

Superb, superb acting from everyone, from the little Indian boys, specially Sunny Pawar that plays the young Sarro, to Dev Patel who has clearly matured into a top class act and is endearing and touching playing the older Saroo.

I'm certainly watching it again.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site Official Site [Japan]

Country:

UK Australia USA

Language:

English Hindi Bengali

Release Date:

6 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lion

Filming Locations:

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$123,360, 27 November 2016

Gross USA:

$51,738,905

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$140,312,928

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Weinstein Company, Screen Australia, See-Saw Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1