Powerful first half, the second half not as much

Rating: 6/10 (7 March 2020)

Minor spoilers included in this review
First of all, it is indeed a powerful real-life event and I was very touched after learning the stories behind the real-life protagonist of this film.
The first half of movie is the life of young-adolescent Saroo (played by Sunny Pawar)
and second half is the life of Young-adult Saroo (played by Dev Patel)
both actors brings a powerful performance and the latter half even features power-house performances from Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman.
But the first half which is played by then-unknown actors was somehow more convincing and easier to get absorbed to the story. I am not trying to say that well-known actors are getting in the way of the story (or maybe I am saying that, but I am too nice to say it blatantly), but the film only shows young Saroo's life when he was 5-6 years old, and then when it skips to young-adult Saroo all of sudden being in his mid-20s, haunted by the his life events at his adolescent life, becuase of that 15-18 years gap between two stories, it is really hard to delve into the psyche of the young-adult characters.
I understand this is a feature-length movie and you cannot pull your inner Scorsese/Tarantino out by going over 3 hours of running time but be rather economical with it. But because of the sudden time skip between two eras in the story, and because the first half takes place in India and second half in Australia all of sudden, it seems like watching two separate films - almost like a double-bill.
I wish there was a better transition between two parts.
But the story itself is very powerful and has a provocative message on Adoption issues and mental health. The second half is a definite tear-jerker, it is quite impossible fight back the tears even when you know how the movie was better in the first half.
I hope they make a short TV series with the same story, so the story delves into Saroo's life between 5yr old- 20yr old.
This movie also made me realize how the story is greater than its performer. Despite the excellent acting from all the actors in the second half, it just could not exceed the more powerful first half played by Sunny Pawar and Abhishek Bharate