Life of Pi

A closer look at the story

Life of Pi follows the extraordinary voyage of Pi, an Indian boy whose family runs a zoo. Together with their animals, the family boards a cargo ship to start a new life in Canada, but the vessel goes down on the way and Pi loses his family. He ends up in a small lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, sharing it with an unlikely group of survivors: a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Far from any hope of rescue, Pi relies on his sharp mind and his knowledge of animals to stay alive. Before long he is left alone in the boat with the tiger, and to avoid becoming its prey he must work out how the two of them can coexist. His journey will eventually bring him to a mysterious island. Ang Lee directed this 127-minute adventure drama from 2012, adapted by David Magee from Yann Martel's novel. Suraj Sharma plays the young Pi and Irrfan Khan the adult Pi, with Adil Hussain also in the cast.