An emotional roller-coaster

Johnson Thomas

Saroo Brierly’s story, based on his own book about his true-life experience as a lost and found child of circumstance and opportunity, may not be the best film in the Oscar race but it certainly is the most riveting emotional odyssey -an unforgettable one at that. 

A five year old boy Saroo( Sunny Pawar  giving a heart-wrenching performance) gets lost on the teeming streets of Calcutta, some thousand kilometres away from his home near Khandwa. After several encounters with the hearty and the filthy of the city, he manages to get sent to an orphanage home and from there he gets adopted by a loving Australian couple Sue and John Brierly (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham). 25 years later, a chance discussion about Google earth leads him to search for his lost family consisting of his loving older brother Guddu( Abhishek Bharate), a younger sister Shakila and protective mother, a labourer, Kamla(Priyanka Bose).

It’s a simple story but the choices that Garth Davis and scriptwriter Luke Davies makes, is what takes this film to such an emotional high. For the first 40 minutes Sunny Pawar as Saroo, hogs the show. His love for his family established, he gets lost on a railway platform, climbs onto a train and finds himself transported to far-off Calcutta. No one understands his pronunciation of his home town.

So he wanders the streets, sleeps in alleyways with other street kids and gets picked up by a woman Noor (Tannishtha) who promises to feed him and give him shelter. But Once her paramour (Nawazuddin) comes on the scene Saroo understands that all is not as it seems and runs away-only to be picked up by the cops and sent to an orphanage where the Social worker(Deepti Naval) makes sure he gets a good home with the Brierleys in Tasmania.

Garth Davis gives Sunny Pawar full rein and the kid comes good- so much so that if the Oscars were to include child artists Sunny Pawar would have been the foremost contender. The script does skip out on vital links in the story but by and large it gives a wholesome picture of what transpires in Saroo’s young life.

The cinematography is lush- Calcutta is breathtaking and so is Tasmania. The pacing and soundtrack are complementary – allowing for strong enough depth and involvement. Dev Patel comes in for the last two-thirds of the film (which explains his supporting actor nomination) and presents a highly troubled emotionally wracked face that hits you with it’s longing and pathos. Nicole Kidman may not have much of a role here but the few times she is on screen she lights it up with her superbly controlled expressiveness. Tanishtha , Nawazuddin, Abhishek Bharate give dignified performances but after Sunny Pawar it’s Priyanka Bose as Kamla who makes her brief role so very unforgettable.

This is a film with a lot of heart and Garth Davis and team must be commended for making it so passionately sublime. Even my eyes were copiously shedding tears from the word go. Frankly, there’s no way you are going to be unaffected by this one!