Lion Page #18

---

was beside me. Just standing there.

And I sensed it so strongly. I

could feel his warmth.

SAROO:

Really?

SUE:

Literally. The left side of my body

started to heat up.

SAROO:

Did you try to talk to him?

SUE:

It wasn’t like that. Anyway, I was

doubting my sanity. Even as it

happened.

SAROO:

It didn’t speak?

SUE:

It stood beside me. And for once in

my bleak life, I felt something

good. And I knew it was guiding me.

And I knew - in my heart - I’d be

fine. It was as if, at that moment,

I could suddenly believe in the

future.

Saroo sits there, haunted and entranced by her story.

SUE (CONT’D)

And now - I don’t know where I’m

going. I don’t know what anything

means any more. I thought I could

hold everything together. By an act

of will.

SAROO:

- oh, Mum -

SUE:

But it’s all just splinters.

Everything splintering off.

Saroo, pained. He shrugs, palms up: I don’t know what to say.

HIGH AERIAL - MORNING

Way down there, Saroo’s car travels along the wild, lush,

remote Tasmanian coast.

I/E. CAR / NEAR DOVER LOBSTER PORT - DAY

Saroo winds down towards a wild windswept inlet. Towards

Mantosh’s shed...

EXT. MANTOSH’S SHED - CONTINUOUS

Saroo pulls up, gets out, bangs on doors. Peers in through

the windows.

SAROO:

(calls)

Mantosh!

Wide:
the lonely ghost gums echo his call.

INT. SAROO’S CAR - CONTINUOUS

He gets back in the car, to wait it out... the trees, the

isolation... the quiet... relief almost...

He winds his seat back. Stillness.

KAMLA (V.O., PRE-LAP)

That one is Makara, the sea

monster. You see his long tail?

SAROO (V.O., PRE-LAP)

Ammi - if he’s a sea monster, can

he fly?

MEMORY, ROOFTOP, ONE-ROOM HOME, KHANDWA

Looking DOWN on Kamla, Guddu, Kallu and Saroo (Shekila

wrapped in swaddling, sound asleep), all lying on their backs

on the flat roof, looking up at the stars.

KAMLA:

I don’t know. It’s as deep as the

ocean up there.

Pause. They’re all staring straight up, in wonder.

KAMLA (CONT’D)

(gesturing)

See the bright one, and the line

like that? That’s Simha. The lion.

SAROO:

Will he eat us?

KAMLA:

He might. When he gets hungry

enough.

ON Saroo:
gazing up. Sheer wonder. Thinking about Simha.

REVERSE - their POV. The incomparable spread of stars.

INT. SAROO’S CAR - DUSK

Saroo, looking up at the ceiling of his car.

A single tear rolls from his eye. Gentle SOUNDS on the roof -

spitting of rain.

BANG on the window - a wet and bedraggled MANTOSH, has just

pulled up in his UTE, waders over his arm, smoking a joint.

MANTOSH:

Brother from another mother. Your

hair looks as bad as mine.

Saroo, sits up, gets out. Mantosh offers Saroo the joint.

Saroo shakes his head No.

Mantosh takes a big toke. Flicks the joint away.

INT. MANTOSH’S SHED - CONTINUOUS

Inside, it’s barely habitable. A grimy sink. A rickety table.

A single bed with grey blankets that look damp.

Mantosh pours cheap whisky into two grubby glasses. He turns

the RADIO on low.

They sit, clink glasses, take a sip. Mantosh’s cheery facade

fails to hide his desolation and desperation.

He holds his hand out, horizontal.

MANTOSH:

I’m off the speed, mate.

Perhaps his hand trembles, just a little; Saroo notices.

SAROO:

That’s good. ‘Cos Mum’s not well.

MANTOSH:

(wary)

Oh yeah? What is it?

SAROO:

Stress. She thinks she’s gonna lose

you

(MORE)

SAROO (CONT'D)

(quick adjustment:)

-us. She’s worried about us.

It hangs there. Big thing for Saroo to say. Mantosh, taking

it in. His heart shifts, a notch. His big brother just spoke

of them as an ‘us’.

MANTOSH:

That’s no good.

SAROO:

Nah.

MANTOSH:

I should get out to see her.

SAROO:

Yeah.

Long pause.

SAROO (CONT’D)

I’m sorry for what I said at

dinner.

Mantosh shrugs, remembering. A silent, painful It’s nothing.

SAROO (CONT’D)

You been all right?

Just the act - the intention - of Saroo trying to connect: it

breaks something open in Little Brother. Mantosh heaves a

single sudden dry sob - then stops it. All the world’s pain

in those shoulders.

MANTOSH:

We were the untouchables. You know

that, don’t you? You know how much

our lives were worth. Nothing.

Zero.

(remembering:
such pain)

They had no problem touching me.

He looks up at Saroo as if coming out of a trance.

MANTOSH (CONT’D)

You were one of the lucky ones. I’m

not having a go at you. I’m

genuinely happy for you.

SAROO:

What do you mean, “luck”? - Mate, I

think about my mother in India

every day, knowing I’ll never see

her again. Same as you.

MANTOSH:

(smiling, but an edge)

Not the same. I had bad luck being

born. You got LOST! That’s all that

happened, bro. And before anything

bad even happened, you got whisked

off to Australia. Do you know how

long I was in Liluah for? Fourteen

months.

Silence.

MANTOSH (CONT’D)

Not untouchable in there.

Silence. Saroo, staring at Mantosh. The “lucky ones”. He

knows he’s got a point: at Liluah, Saroo escaped the

bogeyman.

SAROO:

What happened to you was bad. It

was just bad. But this is not how

you deal with it, Mantosh. You

think I’m lucky; I think I made my

own luck. I don’t know which one’s

true. I didn’t have choices. When

that train took off, I didn’t have

a choice. You’ve got to keep going.

Sometimes that’s all it is.

Mantosh just looks at him. They both seem exhausted.

SAROO (CONT’D)

You’ve suffered enough.

MANTOSH:

I’m persevering, bro. Trust me.

SAROO:

I’ve already lost a brother. I

don’t want to lose you too.

(beat)

I need you, bro. We gotta keep this

family together. You and me.

A light coming back into Mantosh’s eyes. Just hearing this.

But then, too, the irony:

MANTOSH:

We do things differently, you and

me. You try to remember. I try to

forget.

Saroo is moved by his insight. They sit in silence in this

new, fragile camaraderie - the radio still playing low, B/G.

Mantosh stands at a song he likes. Turns up the volume. Kylie

Minogue’s I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.

He takes a large swig of whiskey. A big smile spreads.

He starts to dance to the music. His ridiculousness is

infectious, and Saroo smiles too.

MANTOSH (CONT’D)

C’mon, dance with your brother!

Mantosh turns the volume up louder.

MANTOSH (CONT’D)

(over the racket)

C’mon!

Saroo reluctantly gets up. And dances. Two goofy brothers.

And then:
they begin to lose themselves.

The scene becomes loud, frenetic, crazy. They can’t believe

they’re doing this. They’re laughing like mad.

MANTOSH (CONT’D)

(shouting in Saroo’s ear)

I love you, Saroo. I’m gonna get

better.

Saroo grins, Okay, then. Good.

Mantosh takes a big swig straight from the bottle.

Passes it to Saroo, who does the same. Grinning.

And now, they really do lose themselves. The dance is

completely mad. And glorious.

INT. MANTOSH’S SHED - DAWN

DAWN. Saroo, wrapped in a blanket. Staring at his sleeping

brother. The scars on Mantosh’s hands. The tobacco-stained

fingers. The fragility.

Rate this script:4.0 / 12 votes