Harrow-born Dev Patel has been nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Lion and it hasn't quite sunk in yet.

“To be totally honest, the news hasn't made its way into my brain yet” Dev tolf the Harrow Times, shortly after receiving the nomination.

“I'm looking at these beautiful smiling faces around me, faces of the ones I love, and I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. 

“What makes this moment so much more poignant is that I'm in India right now. This enthralling country holds such a deep place in my heart, and it is where Saroo's journey was born.”

The new Hollywood feature film Lion has been nominated for six Oscars in total.

Dev hit our screens in 2007 on the E4 drama series Skins before achieving international stardom with his lead role in Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor and BAFTA Award for Best Actor.

Dev, who grew up in Rayners Lane and attending Longfield Primary School and Whitemore High School, plays a character who, at the age of five in the Khandwa of India, stumbles onto a train which takes him for away from his home and mother tongue are not known.

He is eventually adopted by a couple from Tasmania but the distant memories of his childhood home draw him back in search for his family.

Dev added: “Lion reaffirms the message that love is not dictated by the colour of your skin, not by race, gender, sexuality, social status, or origin.

"It is a message I am proud to be spreading during these uncertain times. This will forever be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.”