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Lion poster

Film · 2016

Lion

Directed by Garth Davis · starring Sunny Pawar, Priyanka Bose and Tannishtha Chatterjee

  • 1 h 58 min
  • PG
  • Drama · Biography
  • IndiaUK
  • Released in the UK 19 January 2017
  • 6.6 AverageMovieNCo
  • 5.5 Users32 votes
  • 7.7 Critics5 reviews
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Synopsis

Saroo Brierley is a child of only five years that was lost in the city of Calcutta. Looking for his mother throughout the city, the small surviving just as can the inhospitable streets of India. One day, he is captured and sent to an orphanage. Although his life seems doomed to oblivion, there is hope. An Australian couple pays attention to him and decide to adopt, the little boy has a new oportuniti for his life in Hobart (Tasmania), along with his adopted family, a life away from the sadness that lived to be separated from his family. Years pass and Saroo becomes a 25 year old studying business and hospitality in the Australian International Hotel School in Canberra. However, the young Saroo feel that he needs to know what happened to his biological family. Whereupon, Saroo decides to return to India, his native country, to find answers about his past.

Where to watch Lion

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Available now in the UK:

Availability checked on 8 November 2026.

The essentials

Runtime
118 min1 hour and 58 minutes
Budget
$12mSee-Saw Films
Box office
$51.4m4.3 times its budget
Rating
PGParental guidance
How long is Lion?
1 hour and 58 minutes (118 minutes).
When was Lion released in the UK?
It was released in the UK on 19 January 2017.
Who directed Lion?
Garth Davis.
Who is in Lion?
It stars Sunny Pawar, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Riddhi Sen.
Where can I watch Lion?
In the UK it is available with a subscription on Prime Video and to rent on Apple TV.
How much did Lion make?
It took $51.4 million in US. It cost $12 million.
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Cast

Full cast (19)
Director
Garth Davis
Writers
Luke Davies
Music
Volker Bertelmann, Sia
Producers
Tabrez Noorani, Harvey Weinstein
Cinematography
Greig Fraser

Videos and trailers

All 4 videos
'Lion' tráiler 2:216 September 2016

Photos and posters

All 25 photos

Reviews

All 7 reviews
5.5 32 votes
  • 106 %
  • 99 %
  • 822 %
  • 722 %
  • 63 %
  • ≤538 %

What the critics say average 7.7 from 5 outlets

  • 9.0 The Hollywood ReporterDavid Rooney A sober and yet profoundly stirring contemplation of family, roots, identity and home, which engrosses throughout the course of its two-hour running time. Read
  • 9.0 The Hollywood ReporterPeter Travers Davis rigorously avoids turning real-life misfortune into Hollywood treacle. Read
  • 5.0 VarietyPeter Debruge Fortunately for Davis, he?s got a terrific cast, chief among them the pair of charismatic actors who split the lead role. Read

Box office

Weekend by weekend
  • Budget $12m
  • US $51.4m
  • UK £11.2m

Awards

All the awards

Soundtrack

All 14 songs
  1. Aaja Nindiya Aaja Nainan Beech Sama JaLata Mangeshkar Spotify
  2. Come CloserSalma Agha Spotify
  3. State Of The HeartMondo Rock Spotify
  4. Red Light SongBlue Spotify

Trivia

  • A real story

    The trip that Saroo Brierley starts for find his birth family es absolutely real. That story was narrated in his book, "A long way home", where he describes his experience.

  • Producer's War

    The Saroo's story was so incredible that there was a war of bids to get the rights about the story and the original book.

  • Recreating the moment

    The director, Garth Davis, got very involved with the Saroo's story, y he want to respect as much as posible the real facts. Thereupon, they were faithful even in the locations; they travelled to India and visited Kolkota (Calcutta) and the originary Saroo's town. His birth family visited the set in many times, and there was where his biological mother and his adoptive mother met each other. Futhermore, the director says that shooting in Kolkata (Calcutta) was not an easy task because of the amount of people and pollution, but the story required shooting at key points like the central station or the Hugli River, a tributary of the Ganges, where the production department had to ferry the whole team through the narrow canals of the flower market.

  • Child's casting

    One of the biggest challenges was finding an Indian boy who played the character of Saroo at age five. According to one of the producers, Angie Fielder, they tested thousands of children from a lot of Indian cities. Those who stood out for the paper were recorded and the tapes were sent to Australia. Later, Australian casting director Kirsty McGregor and screenwriter Miranda Harcourt went specifically to India to work with the selected children. Among them was the brilliant Sunny Pawar, who was finally selected to play the little Saroo. Sunny was everything that the director was looking for in the child; his naturalness and his gaze are the most beautiful elements that we can see in the film.

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