Lion Page #12

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MEMORY, FOREST, KHANDWA

Sounds of the forest. Laughing children. CLOSE on 5-year-old

Saroo, facing a tree, his hands covering his face, but

grinning through his fingers.

SAROO:

Here I come! ...

He turns. Beaming. Pretending to look here and there.

SAROO (CONT’D)

Where is she? Where could she be?

HIDING, Shekila tries not to squeal with anticipation.

Suddenly Saroo SWOOPS DOWN and discovers her SAROO

(CONT’D)

(like a lion)

Roaargh!!

-and Shekila shrieks her delighted lungs out too. Such a

beautiful release of energy.

Then another ROAR from behind, and it’s Kamla, playfully

catching the two of them off-guard.

They all tumble and wrestle, squealing, laughing. Sound of

the leaves crunching, the wind in the trees...

Shekila notices on her arm - a ladybird.

The tiny delicate insect. Sound of a bird call, clear, in the

forest canopy.

She and Saroo watch the ladybird, entranced...

INT. SAROO’S STUDENT APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

The sounds of play and forest trail into Saroo, now sitting

up on the edge of the bed. Staring into the darkness. His

head racing, his heart pounding. He breathes.

JUMP CUT:
Saroo is standing now. In the dark. Just standing

there. He stares over at his laptop. Something’s calling him.

He sits at his desk. A haunted look. Hits ENTER. The screen-

saver opens to his default page, Google. ON SCREEN:

-he types “Indian train station water tanks” as a search.

A hodgepodge of results, as you’d expect. Assorted images of

water towers.

He clicks on a couple. It’s not that none look like the one

in his memory. It’s that they all look fairly similar.

In the search bar he types “Dams India”.

Again, a mixed bag of random results. IMAGES of giant hydro

electric works. He clicks on an aerial shot of one.

In the bottom corner of the image, he notices:

- a logo. “Copyright Google Earth”.

Curious, he clicks on it.

Google Earth opens. The address bar: www .google.com/earth.

ON SCREEN:
that now-so-familiar Google glow - our Earth -

beautiful blue sphere suspended in pure black space.

To either side of it, the menus and controls.

Saroo stares at it all. How does this work?

Using his track pad, he clicks the arrows. The globe “spins”.

Slowly at first. Working out how it works. Then around the

curve of the planet comes India - that familiar triangle that

was on his wall all of his childhood.

He stares at it. As if it might give him some information.

[Note:
during all such scenes we’re INTERCUTTING BACK AND

FORTH between Saroo and screen.]

He hits the “plus” symbol and starts to zoom inwards again.

At a certain point he spots Calcutta (or “Kolkata”, by 2010).

Down, down. Closer. The Earth coming closer.

SAROO’S “MEMORY MAP”: 1 - WATER TOWER (NIGHT)

The looming WATER TOWER, that night on Burhanpur platform.

[NOTE:
these memory maps are Saroo’s vivid, clear memories -

the landmarks that will act as his geographical “locators”.]

SAROO’S “MEMORY MAP”: 2 - DAM (DAY)

WIDE:
the DAM, the long dam wall. Two little silhouettes

(Guddu, Saroo, distant, frolicking) emerging from the water.

SAROO’S “MEMORY MAP”: 3 - UNDERPASS (DAY)

WIDE:
Little Saroo runs into the distinctive UNDERPASS near

Khandwa Station.

SAROO’S “MEMORY MAP”: 4 - ALLEYWAY TO HOME (DAY)

We FOLLOW over little Saroo’s shoulder, sprinting down the

narrow alley to home, past the house with the lurid aqua

wall, past the overflowing bougainvillea.

SAROO:

Ammi! Ammi!

INT. SAROO’S STUDENT APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

On the screen - Saroo sees the great river - the Hooghly, we

can see it’s called - that slices Calcutta in half, much like

Paris or London.

The river, closer. We can make out crowded city blocks now.

SAROO:

The bridge ...

There it is. The Hooghly Bridge. And there: Howrah Station.

SAROO (CONT’D)

No way.

His emotions up in his throat.

ON SCREEN:
the floating label says “Howrah Station”. There it

is. All the platforms. All the tracks leading out.

Saroo, in awe, devouring all this visual information.

Now, inches from the screen.

TINY JUMP CUTS:
Saroo squinting at the specks on the

platforms:
each speck a person, but LO-RES, GRAINY, COARSE.

Something hypnotic about it - the graininess, the little

circle spinning as the pixels clarify and sharpen.

Saroo hunched over, rapidly mastering these controls.

Learning how to scroll and “track”.

He scrolls along the tracks leading out from Howrah Station.

But now - remembering - he imagines what it must have been

like for his brother - to find him missing

IMAGINED MEMORY, PLATFORM, BURHANPUR STATION

The out-of-focus stretch of the empty Burhanpur platform,

four in the morning.

C/U Guddu walks up into frame, into focus. The moment that he

sees that Saroo is not there. His panic surges.

GUDDU:

Saroo?! SAROO?!

His panic rising, he runs, searching, continuing to scream.

INT. SAROO’S STUDENT APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

Guddu’s SCREAM (AUDIO) trails into the beginning of this

scene, as we find Saroo overcome by those screams. His head

racing. His heart pounding. His breath catching in his chest.

LUCY (O.S.)

Are you okay?

He nods. Switches off the computer. This is too hard.

She’s sitting up in bed, watching him. Her great, dark eyes.

Her tangle of dark hair. She’s a goddess.

He dives back into bed, back into the sensuality, the

physical warmth, the miraculous present moment.

SAROO:

I am now.

AERIAL - HIGH ABOVE HOBART - DAY

Gliding HIGH above beautiful Hobart: across the waters of the

wide Derwent River, as we come across the city itself.

SUPER:
ONE YEAR LATER

EXT. BEACH HOUSE - DAY

An old-fashioned beach house right on the sand. Outdoor

stairs lead up to the front door, which is on the first

floor.

INT. BATHROOM & BEDROOM, BEACH HOUSE - CONTINUED

Saroo’s in the shower. Singing to himself.

Saroo and Lucy’s home - nothing expensive but evidence

everywhere of care, taste, and a nesting impulse.

Saroo dries himself. Towel around his waist. Walks into the

bedroom. Starts up his laptop.

ON SCREEN:
India.

He scrolls randomly along a railway track; then stops at a

STATION.

The laptop struggles to render the image - the rotating hourglass

spins and spins...

Saroo looks frustrated - his old laptop is crap.

Lucy hurries in. All dressed up. Corporate. Sparkling.

SAROO:

Wow. Look at you.

She does a spin.

SAROO (CONT’D)

Your hem’s down...

LUCY:

(panics)

Oh God. It’s so long since I wore

this.

(beat)

Have you got a stapler?

He gets one. Staples her hem for her. She notices the

computer struggling to render. Says nothing.

SAROO:

(reassures her)

They’ll love you.

He starts kissing her neck.

LUCY:

I haven’t got time...

Saroo keeps kissing her, nuzzling - Lucy reciprocates.

LATER:

Saroo’s alone - eating toast - dressed in his Assistant

Manager’s suit - name-pin on his lapel.

He returns to the laptop - the hourglass is still spinning!

He’s incredulous - shakes his head in disbelief.

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