Lion : What happened to the brother?

Might as well take advantage of the message boards while they are still here, but I missed something at the very end.

For whatever reason, I wasn't able to read at the end what happened to the brother. I know it said that he died, but how and when?

Also, since these message boards are going away, anyone know of any popular alternatives as to where people can have conversations about movies online now?

I don't think it says how, but it does say that he died the same night Saroo got on the train.

The film general board has lots of threads with people suggesting other places to discuss film

He was struck and killed by a train on a nearby track the same night Saroo went missing. I can't imagine what the mother must have gone through, losing both her sons in one night. Heartbreaking story

he actually had another older brother Kallu. his name is mentioned in the movie but his character doesn't seem to make an appearance. in the book its pretty strongly implied that the loss of the two boys gave the other two a better future than they would have had, as the mother could now afford to send those two to school. the sister was able to become a teacher, and i think the brother became a factory manager or something like that. either way, the siblings always wanted to help the mother move out of the slums, but the mother refused to go anywhere in case saroo ever found his way home.

He died just after leaving his brother. He got hit on the train tracks - and thus was not able to return to get him. It happened prior to Saroo leaving on the empty train.

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I don't think it happened before Saroo left on the empty train because we see the brother back at the platform searching for Saroo, but the train has already left. But, yeah, he got hit by a train the same night, so the poor mother lost both of her boys in one night.

Maybe I'm reading into it - but I believe it said at the end

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Guddu died in 1986 when he left Saroo and walked on the train tracks; he was hit by a train, hence why he never returned to claim Saroo.

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I'm getting that from the synopis but it sounded right - so maybe someone can confirm. If it is written that way - I would think it happened before his death and maybe the the scene of him looking was a dream - I haven't seen it in a while. I forgot about that scene - so maybe my memory is just going.

**according to the script - that scene of Guddu coming back was an imagined memory. So I think he was killed prior and Saroo was just imagining what his brother went through - not knowing he was already dead by that time.

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the account in the book is that it was a few weeks after the disappearance when Guddu's body was found. it is just assumed he died that night and thats why he never returned.

Although there will probably be no way of knowing for sure - IMO it would make more sense that it was prior. I doubt that Guddu would let his brother stay there that long alone - since he already got in trouble for not taking care of him. We know from the script that the scene when Guddu returns to the station is just in his imagination. But that would be speculation either way - and maybe it me making the best of a tragic situation - with the alternatives he committed suicide and/or came back and couldn't find his brother when he returned and died looking for him.

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Your wording is offbut basically, yes, that was what was said

I thought the brother searching for Saroo was what Saroo himself had imagined happened. I don't think it was clear when his brother was hit by the train.

My interpretation was that when the brother realized that he had lost Saroo, he decided to commit suicide.

Actually, it stated that his brother died the night Saroo vanished He was hit by a train while searching for his lost brother.

people don't just randomly get hit by trains for no reason.

Yes they do. There are actual videos of people accidently getting hit by trains.

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people don't just randomly get hit by trains for no reason.

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We're not talking some sleepy middle-class town in Dorset with one station and two sets of rails here. Saroo and his brother were running all over the tracks all the time, it would be no big leap of logic to assume he was hit by a train by accident. It's a massive coincidence, but if he was frantic and stressed out while looking for his brother, he might not have paid attention to where he was going and that might have been the reason he did get hit by a train. He was greatly contributing to the welfare of his mother and baby sister, I doubt he would have just impulsively committed suicide!

Anyways, the fact that he died the very night Saroo went missing is extremely tragic, and it was stated during the end credits.


Do you even know what honor is?
- A horse.

It does NOT say he was hit by the train while searching for his lost brother.

He learned that 25 years earlier, on the same night he
stepped up into that carriage, his brother Guddu died - hit
by a train not far from the platform.

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The movie stated that his brother died getting hit by a train the same night they parted ways. It's does not state that he was killed while looking for his brother, per se. Does the book say that?

That scene was more than likely a haunting nightmare for Saroo because it was shown when he was older. He said how painful it was thinking of his brother looking for him everyday. Saroo saw his brother everywhere, I don't believe the scene was meant to be taken literally.

Saroo Brierley made it back to Ganesh Talai on February 12, 2012. He'd been lost for over 25 years.

All those years earlier, on the same night he stepped up into that empty carriage, his brother Guddu died hit by a train not far from the platform.

"Each ending is merely a new beginning."

For this and any other film based on true facts visit the website History Vs. Hollywood (www.historyvshollywood.com). It's wonderful. I found in when trying to find out about the true story behind Hidden Figures and Loving. There's a wonderful entry on Hacksaw Ridge too. It's very detailed and well researched.

Has anyone thought that perhaps the brother tried finding him and when he failed he threw himself from the tracks intentionally killing himself? Perhaps feeling he couldn't return home at all without him.

He didn't kill himself. It's the whole reason the brother didn't return earlier. There were no clocks to show the time, but it was clear the young Sheru Brierly had been resting long into the night, and then awaiting his brother for longer. An empty station over there means it's very late into the night.

Been to India a few times, and, yeah, it isn't so strict there about crossing the tracks, not surprisingly, with frequent casualties.

Also, (maybe I'm just winging it here), but as he walked away into the darkness on the tracks, the lingering shot made it feel like something was going to happen to him.

Good chat :) Probably the last here on these boards

Yes, a great thread!