Confident about 'Lion': Garth Davis on Oscar, BAFTA nominations

Garth Davis, whose directorial "Lion" has bagged six nominations for the 89th Academy Awards and five nominations for the BAFTA awards, says he is quite confident about the movie following the appreciation it has received at various international film festivals from audiences and critics alike.

The director, who is on an India tour to promote the movie, which is releasing here on February 24, told IANS: "I am quite confident about the film, as it is receiving appreciation. I know the film is good."

"Nevertheless, I am not thinking too much about what would be next in terms of expectations that I am setting up through this film. Look, when I was making the film, I was so consumed in the process that I did not think about anything else but the story that I wanted to tell," he added.

The movie, which features Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, saw its India premiere in Mumbai on Wednesday night. Davis who addressed the audience and spoke about the passion that went behind the making of the film, the premiere of which was organised by MAMI in association with Pictureworks.

A true story of Saroo Brierley's journey to find his birth mother 20 years after he was accidently separated from her and his family, the film is based on the real-life memoir titled "A Long Way Home".

"I hope India likes the film. It's made with a lot of passion and heart. India has had a huge contribution in making this film and I couldn't be more happier to be present here at the Indian premiere. Working on 'Lion' has been a great journey," Davis said.

"Lion" features child actor Sunny Pawar, Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval and Tanishtha Chatterjee among others. It is based in India and Australia, and is a poignant tale of a five-year-old boy who loses his way from home far away in Kolkata, later to be adopted by an Australian family. Around 25 years later, Saroo finds himself on a quest using Google Earth to find his way back home.

---IANS

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