Indian-origin actor Dev Patel has been nominated for the best supporting actor category at Golden Globe awards for his critically applauded turn as Saroo Brierley in "Lion". The 26-year-old actor, who shot to fame with 2008 hit "Slumdog Millionaire", has earned his first Golden Globe nod for his role in Garth Davis-directed drama, also starring Nicole Kidman. The movie is based on the true story of Brierley, a young Indian boy who gets separated from his brother and mother when he ends up 1,000 miles away from his home, lost at a train station in Kolkata.
He gets adopted by an Australian family but eventually tracks down his lost family in India via Google maps years later. Patel will be pitted against Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Simon Helberg, (Florence Foster Jenkins) and Aaron Taylor Johnson (Nocturnal Animals). Apart from Patel's nomination "Lion" has earned three more nods. While Kidman is nominated in best performance by an actress in a supporting role- motion picture category, the movie has also earned best motion picture drama and best original score - motion picture nomination.
"Moonlight," the tale of an impoverished black boy in Miami struggling with his sexuality, scored six nods, including Barry Jenkins in the directing and screenplay categories and Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali in the best supporting acting races. The nominations underscored how "La La Land" and "Moonlight" are becoming the two front-runners in Hollywood's annual awards race.
Both made the American Film Institute's list of best movies of 2016. At Sunday's Critics Choice awards, "La La Land" took home eight accolades, including best picture, while "Moonlight" picked up two.
"La La Land" is up against "20th Century Women," the story of a free-spirited mother; raunchy superhero action movie "Deadpool"; singing comedy "Florence Foster Jenkins"; and teen tale "Sing Street" for best comedy/musical film at the Golden Globes.
"Moonlight" will face war drama "Hacksaw Ridge," western crime story "Hell or High Water," adoption tale "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea," which is about a working-class family dealing with tragedy, in the best drama film category.
More than 90 journalists in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association choose The Golden Globes. Winners will be announced on Jan. 8 at a televised ceremony hosted by Jimmy Fallon. While the voters do not overlap with members of the film guilds who pick the Academy Awards nominees and winners, the Globes help build buzz for films leading up to February's Oscars.
After a furor that erupted earlier this year because all 20 acting Oscar nominees were white, the Golden Globes feature numerous actors of color, including Ruth Negga of "Loving," Ali and Harris of "Moonlight," and Dev Patel, who is of Indian descent, for "Lion."
Notable omissions from the best drama film category included "Jackie," an in-depth character study of the widow of U.S. president John F. Kennedy in the week after his assassination. Lead Natalie Portman, however, received a best actress nomination.
"I had such a beautiful experience making this film with the most wonderful cast and crew, and particularly with our great director, Pablo Larrain, that it feels like icing on the cake to be nominated," Portman said in a statement.
Martin Scorsese's "Silence," the tale of missionaries in 17th-century Japan, and "Fences," a tense African-American family drama set in the 1950s, were also snubbed in the best drama film category.
"Fences" did bring nods for best actor to Denzel Washington and best supporting actress for Viola Davis.In the best comedy/musical category, "Hidden Figures," the true-life story of three black women who help NASA in the 1960s space race, was missing from the list, but star Octavia Spencer landed a best supporting actress nomination.
