Sunny Pawar, the charismatic nine-year-old boy who played the lost boy Saroo Brierley in the Nicole Kidman-starrer Lion was a surprise winner at Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Art Awards on December 6th.
Pawar became the youngest winner of the best actor’s title — an award previously won by Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caton, Andrew Garfield and David Gulpilil.
Pawar was chosen to play the young Saroo in the film from among 2,000 children who auditioned for the Garth Davis-directed drama.
Nicole Kidman and star in LION Source: AAP Image/Mark Rogers/The Weinstein Company via AP
The film is based on the real story of Saroo Brierly, an Indian child raised in Australia, who starts an emotional journey to find his biological mother after being adopted by a couple in the island nation.
“Thank you so much for the honor,” Pawar said in a video message from the set of a new film he is shooting in Kolkata, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“I am so happy. I wish you all happy new year and merry Christmas.”
Director Garth Davis was jubilant with the results. “I was just praying that he would win,” he said. “I could just feel it when I met him that he had something special. There was an instinctual connection with that boy.”
He added: “That was one of the great things I discovered on the shoot – a few weeks in, he started to empathize with Saroo’s story and became an actor. He wasn’t just a kid getting responses or emotions. He was actually embracing this character and empathizing with him and bringing that to the floor.”
The film Lion dominated the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards in Sydney, taking 12 awards from 12 nominations.
Lion cast and crew pose with the AACTA Award for Best Film. Source: AAP
It won the awards for the best film, best direction, and best supporting actor awards for Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel.
Another Indian film, the Aamir Khan starrer Dangal won the best Asian film award which was presented by Hollywood star Russell Crowe at the ceremony.
