dailyO
Art & Culture

How a boy from Madhya Pradesh found his lost family with Google Earth - and made Lion

Advertisement
Suhani Singh
Suhani SinghFeb 24, 2017 | 09:58

How a boy from Madhya Pradesh found his lost family with Google Earth - and made Lion

The incredible story of India-born Australian Saroo Brierley who found his biological family using Google Earth gets a big screen treatment in Lion. The film releases in India on February 24. Brierley, who was in Mumbai recently to promote the Oscar-nominated film, said he always hoped that his book, A Long Way Home, would someday be made into a movie.

Born Sheru Munshi Khan in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Saroo was five when he boarded a train to find his older brother. He ended up separated from his family and in Calcutta, where he was put in a government centre for abandoned children.

Advertisement
munshi-khan_022417094800.jpg
Lion (2016)
munshi-khan_022417094625.jpg
Sheru Munshi Khan was adopted by Australian couple Sue and John Brierley. Photo: Mail Today 

Eventually he would be adopted by Australian couple Sue and John Brierley who gave him a new life in Hobart, Tasmania. After two decades, Saroo relied on his memory along with technology to search for his Indian family. It took him over five years to track his hometown and finally meet his mother and two siblings in 2012.

Saroo’s wish to see his tale gain more eyeballs came true when Australia-based See-Saw Films bought the rights to the book. Dev Patel was roped in to play adult Saroo and Nicole Kidman his adoptive mother. Both are in contention for the Oscars which will be telecast live in the wee hours of February 27.

To ensure the film was as true to his story, Saroo took director Garth Davis and writer Luke Davies to India to retrace the lifechanging journey he took as a child.

“I was adamant that if you want to do this film you have to see where I went,” he said. “It gave them a better view of how to write this story and where to shoot it.”

When asked what’s better the book or the film, Brierley took the diplomatic route and said that both are great and complement each other well.

Advertisement

“I think two hours is great way to facilitate the majority of audience,” he said. “If it was my way, I’d add another half hour to the running time.”

(Courtesy Mail Today)

Last updated: February 24, 2017 | 10:15
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy