Oscar nominee Dev Patel says flying to US was ‘a nightmare’

MUMBAI: Oscar nominee Dev Patel ( pictured right) has slammed Donald Trump’s travel ban in the US – and applauded those who are protesting it.

The Slumdog Millionaire star has said he would not ‘ be quiet’ about the restrictions, revealing that when he flew into the States he felt like he was ‘entering into a nightmare’.

“I live here now. I have a home here.

‘ When I arrived back from India I felt like I was entering into a nightmare.

“I’m really grateful to the people out there marching and standing outside airports and all the protesters.’

Dev, who now lives in the US, was in India for the premiere of his new film, Lion.

The film sees the Brit play a young boy, Saroo Brierley, separated from his family in India and adopted by a family in Australia, trying to find his way home using Google Maps.

Dev is up for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars on Feb 26. He is up for the gong against Mahershala Ali, Jeff Bridges, Lucas Hedges and Michael Shannon.

But the film star said promoting his new film was very different to promoting the film that propelled him into stardom – Slumdog Millionaire.

He said: “When Slumdog first premiered it was the time people were passing around badges that read Hope, and ( Barack) Obama was about to step up, and there was a beautiful loving atmosphere in the air, and the film spoke to that.

“Now we are in a very different stage, we socially, politically, feel more tender. People are worried. As an actor I am having conversations about how relevant it is to promote a film when the fabric of society is fraying.

“But I snuck into the end of a screening to watch the last seven minutes and was quite moved by the message it is putting out of unification and love that transcends continents. It makes me happy.”