Dev Patel appeared in a movie.
Dev Patel . His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle 's drama Slumdog Millionaire , which won the Academy Award for Best Picture , and for which he was nominated for the SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor . Patel went on to star in the highly successful romantic comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ( 2012 ) and its 2015 sequel , the fantasy film The Last Airbender ( 2010 ) , and the science fiction film Chappie ( 2015 ) . In 2015 , Patel starred as the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in the biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity , and the following year he played Saroo Brierley in the drama Lion ( 2016 ) . For the latter , he won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Golden Globe , Critics ' Choice Award , SAG Award , and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2011 British comedy-drama film , directed by John Madden .