Lion Review: Dev Patel's film doesn't make you roar but leaves you with a lump in your throat!

Film: Lion

Dir: Garth Davis
Cast: Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman
Rating: ***1/2

What's it about:

The saga of Saroo, if you must. How a boy (Sunny Pawar) and his brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) get separated after a night at a railway station, while in search of work. How Saroo becomes an unwilling passenger, transported over a 1,000-odd kilometres away to Kolkata. How it takes him from a railway platform to its dingy subways, to escaping abduction and more to landing up in a juvenile home. And how from there, a kind woman (played by Deepti Naval) arranges for him to head to Tasmania, Australia to a pair of loving adoptive parents Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), who bring him up. 
We see a grown-up Saroo (Patel), 20 years on, heading to hotel management school, still haunted by ghosts of his past, a lost family that he clearly still remembers, but has no means to find out where they are. Enter Google Earth as the saviour. With a little push in the right direction, Saroo begins searching.
And then, he gets obsessive about that search. He begins ignoring his girlfriend Lucy (Mara), he quits his job and cuts himself away from the world.
Does Saroo ever get to know what happened to his family back in India at all?

What's hot:

Based on Saroo Brierley's book A Long Way Home, Lion traces the journey of Saroo from a five-year-old carefree child to a young adult still traumatised by memories of his past. And for you to be able to relate to that journey, it is Sunny's casting as the young Saroo that makes this film work in its entirety. His innocence, his street-smartness, his wiser-than-his-years eyes -- you can't write that in a screenplay (brilliant adaptation, by the way, by Luke Davies). Sunny Pawar is that rare gem that makes you buy into what could have been just another story about an adoption done right. Dev Patel portrays love and longing in varying measures here. A definite improvement from his wide-eyed act in Slumdog Millionaire, he is quite restrained here. You know he's sincere, but also that he's cleanly sticking to the director's orders. As Saroo's foster mother, Sue, Nicole Kidman makes you want to believe in the goodness of people. One scene in particular, where she tells Saroo why she adopted him and Mantosh stays with you long after it passes.
Some soul-stirring music scored by Dustin O'Halloran & Hauschka and tracks that span everything from Cage The Elephant's Trouble to Aaja Nindiya Aaja (Lorie; composed by Khayyam and sung by Lata Mangeshkar) bring alive an experience you need to have at least once.

What's not:

Much of the film is spread through wide expanses and while it lends itself to same great shots, it extends the running time of the film. While the subplot of Mantosh stays true to Saroo's story, it does precious little to take the story forward except offer a contrast in the emotional states of two children given a chance at a better life.
Rooney Mara is a fine actress and she precious little to do here, other than play a steady support and love interest to Dev's Saroo. We also see far too little of Priyanka Bose (who plays Kamala, Saroo's mom).
It is the second half that slows down the pace of the film. Intentional, perhaps, but it doesn't hold your interest in the way that it should.
And yeah, it does feel for around 20 minutes or so, that Google Earth had a fantastic product placement here. Yes, even if it did actually happen.

What to do:

It doesn't exactly make you roar in applause, but it does leave you with a lump in your throat at some points during the film. Sunny Pawar is a revelation. Watch this one for him.