Lion (2016)

**Lost in India, found in Australia!**
Based on the book 'A Long Way Home' that tells the story of a young Indian boy who lost his brother in a railway station in the night and the next morning he woke up thousands kilometers away from home. Not knowing the language or the address and the names of his family, he struggled from various threats in the society. After that he got adopted from an Australian family and the rest of the film revolved on his true identity. Haunted by his past, how he rediscovered his originality was emotionally told.
Very impressive film. The families should not miss it. Even though it is a must see by all ages. I am not a big fan of Dev's performances, even in his debut film 'Slumdog Millionaire'. After that success, he had survived in the film industry doing decent roles, for like a decade. But it was 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' that changed his career. For the first time I liked him very much in that, and again he was pretty impressive in this. The second best performance in his career. Though his part comes only after the half way mark. Yet in that one hour, he did great, particularly in the sentiments.
I was wondering why it was called 'Lion'. And I got answered only just before the end credit. So you should be patient to learn why, if you are yet to see it. It was not until the 90s the India began to see a real change. This story takes place in the mid 80s, only the opening half and those parts were raw and cruel, especially in the eyes of an 8 year old boy. That kid was so good. Just like Jacom Tremblay, a year before who impressed us with his performance from the film 'Room'.
It was a feature film debut for the director and he was wonderful in this attempt. The film splits into two, the first half was about lost and the following half is about finding the road back to the home. Less dialogues, but well written in those necessary parts. The music was good. Only negative was the film was out of depth. Yeah, all the events were like fast forward. If they had focused on details, the narration would have reached at least 3 hours. Especially I wanted the Australian mother's perspective on how she went through to raise those kids.
Now I'm waiting for the 2020. I mean 2008 was SDM, 2012 was LoP and 2016 was this one. The 4 years later, surely there will be another India related western film would come. Despite this film nominated for the 6 Oscars, it had won nothing. That's very sad. Overall, I strongly suggest it. One of the best films of the Year.
_9/10_

An interesting true story. Film starts well and ends well. In the middle, there is a rapid acceleration from being a boy to being a man that misses out on a lot of an explanation as to how he ended up being the person he was. Quite boring in the middle of the film, which is a shame since the young actor was excellent.