London, Feb. 13: Dev Patel was named best supporting actor for his role in Lion at last night's Bafta ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The British Indian actor, who has also been nominated for an Oscar, is now 26 and has come a long way since Danny Boyle cast him as Jamal Malik, the youth from the Mumbai slums in Slumdog Millionaire in 2008.

That film won seven Baftas and eight Oscars.

Bafta is meant to be a guide to the Oscars, and if that is the case, President Donald Trump, the main target of jokes last night, would be well advised not to switch on his TV on February 26 when the big guns of Hollywood gather in Los Angeles.

Lion tells the real life story of a little Indian boy, Saroo, who gets lost in Calcutta, finds himself adopted by an Australian couple, grows up in Australia, and then uses Google Earth to discover his origins in India.

His adoptive mother is played by Nicole Kidman, who looked every inch the star on a bitterly cold night in a black, low-cut and backless gown, as she posed for photographs with Dev.

Last night, Dev's parents, Raj and Anita Patel, an Indian couple from Harrow, north London, were in the audience to see their son pick up his first major award from Stephen Fry, who has presented Bafta for 12 years.

"I'm a little bit wobbly," confessed Dev, who was pushed into acting when he was a teenager by his mother. "I really did not expect it, we have gone to so many awards ceremony and this one is where everything changed, on home turf with my family."

Like his former girlfriend, Frieda Pinto, Dev now lives in the US, which appears a requirement for non-American actors wanting the elusive big roles in Hollywood.

The upbeat musical La La Land picked up five of the 11 prizes for which it was nominated, including best film, top director for Damien Chazelle and leading actress for Emma Stone.

Ken Loach's hard-edged film about the benefits system in the UK, I, Daniel Blake, which won the Palme d'Or in Cannes last year, was picked as the outstanding British film.

Meryl Streep was present last night, fresh from the latest round of her battle with Trump and very much the centre of attention on a night when she won nothing.

She wore a pair of black trousers, platform mules and thick-framed spectacles. For once, the 67-year-old, dismissed by Trump as "overrated", allowed others to do the talking for her - and they did.

Fry descended from the stage to seek out Streep for a hug and a kiss after allowing himself a dig at Trump: "I look at row after row of the most over-rated people in the audience."

In his opening monologue, he said: "She's one of the greatest actresses of all time - only a blithering idiot would think otherwise."

Viola Davis, named best supporting actress for Fences, commented: "Anyone who labels Meryl Streep an 'overrated' actress obviously doesn't know anything about acting. That's not just directed towards Donald Trump - that's directed towards anyone."

Casey Affleck, named best actor for Manchester by the Sea, said he had managed to grab a word with Streep.

"I told her how much her speech at the Golden Globes meant to all of us and how grateful I was that she did it and kicked in the door a little bit," he revealed. He hoped more actors would speak out.

"There is a big audience for these awards shows... I don't always say some of the things I would like to say in those opportunities because there are people like Meryl Streep who say them much better than I can - and if they are going to be said it should be said very, very well because they are important."

Prince William, who was present with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, took to the stage at the end of the evening to award the Bafta fellowship to US filmmaker, actor and comedian Mel Brooks.

Backstage, the man who created The Producers, was asked if he would ever pen anything about Trump.

"He just simply hasn't reached Hitlerian proportions yet, he might get there," he responded. "I'm not afraid of him, I don't think he's dangerous. I think he's mostly an entertainer, a guy who wants audiences to love him."

"What I'm afraid of is all the guys around him, all the people who whisper in his ears, like the people who whispered in George W Bush's ears and we got the Iraq War," Brooks admitted.

"I just hope Trump stays the egomaniac he is, listens to no-one and then we will all be safe. But if he believes these guys we are all in trouble."