Rohit Khilnani feels Life of Pi works well visually but is a bit too long. One of the best storytellers of his time, Ang Lee is back with another adventure -- screen adaptation of Yann Martel's novel
Life Of Pi.
The story is told by a grown up Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) in flashback to a writer (Rafe Spall).
The young Pi, son of an Indian zoo owner, is a confused kid. He is fascinated by different religions but doesn't quite know which one to follow.
He is moving to Canada with his father (Adil Hussain), mother (Tabu) and his brother (Ayan Khan) along with all the animals from their zoo when a terrible storm in the Pacific changes everything.
Pi survives the storm along with a few animals -- an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Eventually, only Pi and Richard are left on the small lifeboat. Pi has to survive by saving himself from the hostile tiger. The relationship between Pi and the Richard is complicated.
There is fear, love, compassion and tolerance. He has to keep feeding the tiger, be it fish or just clean water to avoid being eaten himself. This struggle for a peaceful co-existence makes up for the most of the film.
A lot of it is the work
of animation and is done very well. Suraj Sharma in the role of young Pi delivers a fantastic performance, you feel for the boy stranded in the middle of the sea.