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Lion Movie: Dev Patel Bags BAFTA, Plays Indian Character Again In Next Movie

By Sounak Mukhopadhyay
Published on: 13:02 PST, Feb 12, 2017

Thanks to Lion movie, Dev Patel has bagged his first BAFTA. The actor, most famous for playing the protagonist of Slumdog Millionaire, got the award for Best Supporting Actor. The Australian movie stars David Wenham, Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara and Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman. But, the real charm of the movie is Indian child actor Sunny Pawar, who plays the younger version of Dev’s character. Lion brought BAFTA for Luke Davies who won for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Dev plays a young Tasmanian man, who is looking for the woman who gave birth to him. The British actor of Indian origin has played a few Western characters in the past, but his most appreciated performances have an Indian connection. While it is obvious for the actor to play Indian characters because of his origin, he acted in a number of movies that had a story about India. His big screen debut Slumdog Millionaire, where he plays a character named Jamal Malik, was based in Mumbai. His performance as Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in The Man Who Knew Infinity was critically appreciated as well.

In Lion movie, Dev Patel plays an Indian character named Saroo Brierley. In his next movie, he plays another Indian character, and the story is based in India as well. Hotel Mumbai is based on the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai. The movie, which tells a story about the victims and the survivors of the attack, will reportedly have Patel in a Sikh character. After his BAFTA, this movie is sure to make more people curious about his next movie.

In Lion movie, Dev Patel plays an Indian character named Saroo Brierley.
Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel at the 70th EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). [Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

The 26-year-old actor called it an “out of body experience” to walk the red carpet at the BAFTAs and to win it as well. He remembered how he watched the award ceremony as a kid. His award came while other significant names were there in the list of nominees. Actors like Jeff Bridges, Hugh Grant and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were nominated for Best Supporting Actor. But, his toughest competitor was believed to be Mahershala Ali. The actor who plays Remy Danton in House of Cards was highly acclaimed for his performance in Moonlight.

Before the script was finalized for Lion movie, Dev Patel approached director Garth Davis. The director told Huffington Post Australia that the actor had approached him, even before the writers started writing the script. He worked for the next eight months to perfect the Tasmanian accent and to put on weight to suit the character.

After getting a BAFTA for Lion movie, Dev Patel will wait for the Golden Globe Award.
[Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

This year, La La Land has dominated in every major award ceremony so far. BAFTA was not an exception either. It got the Best Film award, beating other nominations like I, Daniel Blake, Moonlight, Manchester By The Sea and Arrival. Damien Chazelle got the Best Director for the film. Emma Stone got the Best Leading Actress for the same film. Ryan Gosling, however, lost to Casey Affleck who got the Best Leading Actor for Manchester by the Sea. La La Land also got Best Original Music (Justin Hurwitz) and Best Cinematography (Linus Sandgren).

After getting a BAFTA for Lion movie, Dev Patel will wait for the Golden Globe Award, which has him nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He has also been nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. Most importantly, Dev has been nominated for the Academy Award as well. He did not win a BAFTA for Slumdog Millionaire, even though he was nominated for it. Now that Lion has turned out to be lucky for him, let’s see if it brings the Academy Award for him.

[Featured Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

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