The gift of perseverance
The last time a film gained attention in the subcontinent during Oscar season the way Lion (2016) is doing right now, was nearly a decade…
The last time a film gained attention in the subcontinent during Oscar season the way Lion (2016) is doing right now, was nearly a decade ago. To be fair, Slumdog Millionaire (2008) gained much more than mere attention. It moved on to global acclaim, to the surprise of many. We’ll have to wait till Monday morning to check whether Lion converts its chances or not. It has 6 nominations whereas Slumdog Millionaire won 8. Moreover, the reason why these two films are being discussed in the same breath has less to do with their desi backdrop but more to do with Dev Patel. He made a splash back then as the chaiwala-who-became-a-millionaire—interestingly, another self-appointed chaiwala went on to become India’s first prime minister born post-independence 6 years later — and he is creating another one this time around by earning an Oscar nod. Not bad for a 26-year old who was often derided by the media for having a baby face and bunny ears. Since his Skins (2007) days, Dev took up some challenging projects with some of the most illustrious names in cinema. Seems like his grit is being reciprocated by the Academy. In Lion, he portrays a real-life character, who was uprooted from Kolkata during his childhood and ends up in Hobart, only to find his lost family 25 years later. If you look closely, there is a Lion in Slumdog Millionaire. Lame wordplay aside, the latest movie has a recall value thanks to the trains involved (and also AR Rahman’s music) but the cake goes to Dev for making us shed tears like a cloud. That’s onscreen bonanza, of course. Offscreen, the credit goes to the mother of the boy who wouldn’t leave the village lest her son comes looking for her someday. She didn’t give up on him for a quarter of a century. And that’s one heck of a tale.