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Lion
Based on a true story
Plot (Spoiler Alert)Saroo has been away from his home and beloved family for twenty five years after scavenging on a train, accidentally falling asleep in it and is hurtled across another side of India. He wanders around trying to find a way back home until a couple years later he is taken to Australia to be adopted by a couple who love and care for him. Saroo has spent years adapting to his new life. One day while having dinner with some friends, Saroo sees a food that brings back a memory rom his past. He then gets obsessed with knowing where is home . Saroo spent four years trying to find his home through Google maps. All Saroo wants is to let his family know he’s alive and well. Finally Saroo comes across a familiar place on his computer. It is his home. Saroo tells his step mother, Sue Brierley what he has been doing and she understands and supports him. Saroo returns to his home of Khandwa, India where he is reunited with his beloved mother and sister. His brother Guddu was run over by a train and died that night they went scavenging. Saroo is sad for the loss of his brother, but is happy with joy that he is reunited with his mom and sister. 
Blaine: Sheri said it’s hard to believe being away from your family for 25 years, but this is something that really happened. It was bizarre for the real Saroo because he never envisaged that there would be a movie about his life. He hopes that the film will get out the message to other people out there in the same situation or position as he was that they are not alone. Garth Davis' knowable work was TV. “Lion” is his first feature he’s directed and according to Dev Patel he’s an incredibly grounded filmmaker that’s full of soul. Garth had always wanted to make a movie, but he wanted for the right project to come along that he would feel passionate about. The producers had read the article and they thought it was a project for Gareth to direct. They told him about the story and so he read it and he fell in love with the story and felt good about it. Casting for “Lion” began with finding a young actor who could play Saroo when he is a five year old boy and according to Garth it was a very complicated process to find a child at that age who can act especially when he is the center of the story during half the movie. They did an extensive search all over India and did a lot of hard work looking for the right boy and then they found Sunny Pawer who I find adorable. Garth said the kids in India are just staggering and they have this spirit that is so infectious and to the day he is very grateful to have had that experience. A lot of actors wanted to be apart of the project and Dev Patel was really excited because he really wanted to be apart of it. Dev Patel said that making “Lion” was a life changing experience for him and that was because of Garth brought a lot of emotion into the project. A role like this doesn’t come often. Dev had to put on some weight and grow some hair. The first fifty three minutes of the movie belong to Sunny Pawer as young Saroo and then the rest focus on Dev when Saroo is an adult. It feels like two different movies starting off with Saroo getting lost, surviving on his own and finding a new home. Then he an educated man who now only speaks english and is obsessed with finding out where his family is. Nicole Kidman wanted to know if the real Sue Brierley would be willing to meet with her and Sue flew to Sydney, Australia to spend a day with Nicole to talk. Nicole said that Sue is a gentle compassionate woman and she’s been very involved with the film. Nicole got to know Sue very well. Rooney Mara was another one of those people who really wanted to be apart of the project after being so moved by the story and after getting to know Gareth, she really wanted to work with him. Rooney wanted her performance to be devoted and supportive to Saroo because that she thought of Lucy. For Rooney it was more about the supporting overall story than the character. I hate it when really good couples argue and what Lucy is trying to do is she wants to help Saroo, but he’s not letting her in of how he’s really feeling. But when Saroo finally finds his home, she is happy for him and he asks her to wait for him. I ask myself if they are still together in real life. The cast and the real life people they were playing would get together for a barbecue where Garth Davis was staying by the beach. They could get to know each other, but mainly the actors Priyanka Bose, who plays Saroo’s biological mother, Kamla, had so many questions for Saroo when she met him and he shared some things about his life growing up on the streets, finding money and him being an Australian boy and she found all of that incredible. Then Priyanka got to meet Kamla and they didn’t interact much. She had so much depth about her from Garth that when she met her she just wanted to touch her and just embody her spirit. Priyanka wanted her performance to be true to the real life person she was playing. 
Sheri almost believed that the mother may have already been dead after Saroo arrived at the home he lived with her. I almost thought that as well, but then I thought maybe there’s hope for him and then he is taken to his mother who is more than happy to see her son alive and well. So his trip has not been all for nothing. The thing I love most to some movies like this one are the endings because you are proud of the person achieving what they are trying to find or accomplish in the end. I love seeing the joyful looks on both Saroo and his mother’s faces when they reunited at last. It’s sweet to know that Saroo has room in his heart for the people who took him in and raised him. And Kamla is very grateful to them for looking out after her son. My rating on “Lion” is five out of five stars. Song: Never Give Up Artist: Sia The real Saroo Brierley and his beloved mothers, Kamla and Sue 
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