LION is a bittersweet tale about an adoptee’s second chance at a fortunate upbringing pitted against his long-forgotten past identity. Based upon the true story of Saroo Brierley from his 2012 memoir A Long Way Home, the brilliant collaboration between director Garth Davis and Australian screen writer Luke Davies came together harmoniously to produce a tear-jerking cinematic piece that will pull at anyone’s heartstrings.
The journey began in 1986 with a five-year old Indian boy named Saroo (Sunny Pawar) living a content life in the small village of Khandwa, India. From the beginning of the film, young Saroo can be seen with his older brother Guddu (Abhisek Bharate) stealing lumps of coal from an on-going train. The coal was then sold at the nearby markets for bags of milk to feed their hardworking mother Kamla (Priyanka Bose) and little sister Shekila (Khushi Solanki). Barely a quarter into the film, it has already shown the hardships of people living in poverty through the lack of electricity and tough source of income, but yet there’s still a sense of strive for survival with the carefreeness to life.
One night after following his older brother for a late shift, Saroo found himself falling asleep on a decommissioned train which was bound to travel 2575 kilometers to Calcutta. Awoken by the sounds of the moving train, he stumbled around in sheer panic. His screams for his older brother’s name echoed throughout the carriage, only to remind us of a frightening time when we were kids, lost and separated from our loved ones.
As Saroo arrived in Calcutta, which was a land of unfamiliar Bengali language, surroundings, and people, it was utmost impossible for the young boy to gather any help at all. Stranded and scared for hours, he found some comfort amongst similar aged homeless children sleeping on make shifted cardboard beds in a chilling alleyway. From there, director Davis turned an already heart retching story into a perilous journey of young Saroo facing the untold dark truths of India. The scenes produced by Davis can be seen as upsetting for the weak hearted audiences, but still a much needed eye opener on a perspective of how fortunate and privileged we truly are.
Through the long moments of homelessness and survival, a compassionate passerby brings Saroo to the local police station, however, with the lack of information on the mother’s name and his birth place, there was no other choice but an orphanage for the lost child. Shortly after, ill-fated Saroo was fortunate enough to be adopted by Tasmanian couple John and Sue Brieley (David Wenham & Nicole Kidman).
Now 20 years into the future, young Saroo has grown up into a full-fledged man played by award-winning actor Dev Patel. After the suspenseful first half, it was a complete change of pace from the slums of Calcutta to the mesmerising waves of Tasmania. Determined to build his career in hotel management, Saroo relocated to Melbourne in hopes to finalise his studies, but instead he found himself in a state of lost identity. Even with the loving support of girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara), it couldn’t be helped to feel the empathetic loss for Saroo as the memories of his past began to haunt him.
With the advancement of technology at the time, Saroo discovered what was known as Google Earth and started yet another tantalising journey to find his way back home to the small village in the valley. Rather than a fight for survival on the streets, the battle between emotions and mental strength within Saroo was to decide on which two countries, two lives, and two families does he call upon his one true self.
