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Spoilers (2)
The 8-year-old Sunny Pawar was originally unable to attend the US premiere because he was denied a visa. Producers of the film made an appeal to Homeland Security, after which Pawar and his father were allowed to come to the US.
Dev Patel had to develop a new physique to portray Saroo and attended several hours in the gym in order inhabit his part. He also grew a beard and developed an Australian accent (with Tasmanian dialect), visited Saroo Brierley's orphanage in India and wrote a diary while he took the original train ride that Brierley accidentally took as a young child. In total, he spent eight months preparing for the role.
Google helped the production and gave the crew access to their satellite imagery to use in the film, providing them with versions of Google Earth from the correct time period, and providing a lot of technical support in order to shoot scenes featuring google in-camera, which saved the production a VFX budget.
The film was developed by Australian producers Andrew Fraser and Shahen Mekertichian. They stubbornly refused to change the Australian setting of the film to America and hereby received several rejections from American film production companies. By the time of release, the two producers will have spend four years on the film.
To internalize her character, Priyanka Bose went to Madhya Pradesh to meet Kamla Munshi, the mother her character was based on; "My questions were basic and just by meeting her, I could tell how hard her life has been. I got down on my knees and hugged her and thanked her for her courage". When meeting Munshi she was told that she was declared crazy by many villagers in the small town for years, as she never gave up hope that her son would return one day.
Partly filmed in Hobart, Tasmania, a rare location for film sets. With a crew of over 300 people and international funding, this film marks the biggest film production to take place on the Australian island. It's set to be released the same year as The Light Between Oceans (2016), partly filmed in Tasmania as well.
The first scene Dev Patel filmed was the last scene of the film.
Sunny Pawar's film debut. He didn't speak English when filming began and bonded with Nicole Kidman, his on-screen mother, by playing cricket with her - scenes which eventually made it into the film.
Rooney Mara's character is not based on a single real-life character, but is a combination of several of Saroo's real-life girlfriends who were with him through his search.
Dev Patel's initial audition lasted six hours. There was concerns among the producers that he was too obvious a choice for a lead role with Indian heritage. This has also previously prevented Patel from possible roles, as he was refused an audition for "Life of Pi" and other parts.
In India, over 80,000 children go missing each year and there are over 11 million children living on the streets. For the release of this film, the foundation #LionHeart was launched in collaboration between the production companies of this film, See-Saw Films and The Weinstein Company (TWC) and The Charity Network. It will provide financial support to the over 11 million children who live on the streets of India.
Rooney Mara originally aimed to take a short break, when Garth Davis offered her the script and made her change her mind: "I read it and it was small part but I thought the script was just so powerful, moving and beautiful that I was like 'This is really supposed to be my time off but I want to talk to this guy.' And within talking to him for two minutes, I knew I was going to work with him."
Nicole Kidman was handpicked by the real-life Sue Brierley for her part. Brierley suggested Kidman from the very first time the film adaptation was suggested to her and actually met with Kidman at her Sydney apartment to discuss the role. Both women forged a close bond in the course of their conversation after discovering that they were both deeply maternal and loved their adoptive and biological children in equal measures.
4000 boys were auditioned to play the young Saroo Brierly, according to line producer Pravesh Sahni.
Dev Patel felt uneasy when he filmed the scene in which his character surfs on a Tasmanian beach, because the place is actually home for several sharks, including the Great White Shark and Bullhead Sharks.
Garth Davis decided to unfurl the story in as linear a way as possible, avoiding flashbacks, even though it would feature very little dialogue in the first half of the film. WALL·E (2008) served as an inspiration for the director when he created the first half of the film. Later, when he discovered Sunny Pawar he felt the young actor was reminiscent of Charles Chaplin in his physicality and Davis knew he would be able to tell the first part of the story with as little dialogue as possible.
Based on Saroo Brierley's memoir "A Long Way Home", the true story of his own search for his childhood home. The film was originally set to feature the same title as the book on which it is based.
Saroo Brierley's story has also been the subject of a "60 Minutes Special" and a Google Ad, promoting the Google Earth feature.
The real-life Brierley family was invited on set and visited the production that took place in Tasmania.
During rehearsals, Garth Davis made Dev Patel and Rooney Mara bond through creative exercises. The first was to draw a portrait of the co-star and to outline how they saw each other.
Dev Patel considers this script to be the best he's ever read.
Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance at the US premiere of the film. It was one of his first public appearances after his wife Hillary Clinton lost the US election a week prior.
Howrah Bridge was shut down by the crew in order to film a single scene. The bridge marks the highly-trafficked main artery between the east and west side of West Bengal, India, and this was the first time the bridge had ever been closed to public.
Director Garth Davis would make Dev Patel act out some scenes as an animal, which, after initial reservations, made Patel overcome a lot of nervous energy.
The Weinstein Company picked up the distribution rights to Dev Patel's next feature Hotel Mumbai (2017), because producer Harvey Weinstein appreciated working with Patel on this film.
Marks Garth Davis' debut as director of a feature film.
This is Nicole Kidman's first on-screen role as a mother of an adopted child. In real life she's the mother of two adopted children.
Priyanka Bose was cast as Kamla because Garth Davis felt she and Kidman shared a similar energy. Bose was admittedly very flattered by this comparison.
The movie was announced April 2013 and filming was originally set to begin in August 2014. However, it was postponed until January 2015. All scenes taking place in India were shot first, and the few scenes set in Australia, featuring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman were shot in April 2015.
The real-life Saroo Brierley and his adoptive mother, Sue Brierley, spoke and answered questions after New York City pre-release screenings.
Rooney Mara, director Garth Davis and producer Harvey Weinstein would all three reunite to make Mary Magdalene (2017) following their collaboration on this film.
In order to insinuate memories from India while filming in Australia, Garth Davis would play Dev Patel and Sunny Pawar recordings of naturals sounds from the set in India, serve them food and display authentic Indian objects from the former filming locations.
In May 2014, The Weinstein Company sealed a $12 million deal for worldwide distribution of the film, before any cast was attached to the project.
Nicole Kidman and David Wenham previously co-starred in Australia (2008), in which they portrayed each other's nemesis. In this they portray each other's spouse.
At the Australian box office, it had the biggest ever opening weekend for an Australian independent film. Among all Australian films, it had the fifth highest opening of all time.
Shares filming location with the Australian drama The Waiting City (2009). These two films are the only international productions to take place in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Sunny Pawar and Abhishek Bharate, who portray brothers in this film, were later both cast in Love Sonia (2017).
First footage of the film debuted to audiences at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival among a show-reel of Weinstein Company's upcoming films. The first rough cut of the film was shown to a limited press screen audience at the Sundance Film Festival.
Australian TV-personality Todd Sampson filmed a small part as an university professor, making this his feature film debut. He previously appeared on the ABC TV show "Gruen" in which he discussed co-star Nicole Kidman's choice to appear in commercials.
The classic song "Come Closer" from Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, is featured in the film. The song appears when Noor is feeding Saroo at the dinner table.
The film features one Oscar winner, Nicole Kidman, and one Oscar nominee, Rooney Mara. Both have been nominated for a film produced by Harvey Weinstein, who also produced this film.
The A.R. Rahman song "Urvasi" from the movie Kadhalan (Humse Hain Muqabla) is featured in the film. The song appears when Dev Patel is walking on the street flirting and smiling.
Hugh Jackman and Colin Firth were considered for a part.
Spoilers
No extras were used for the final scene where Saroo returns home. They are all real-life villagers of the town.
Footage from when the real Sue Brierley meets Saroo's birth mother for the first time is shown before the end credits. Director Garth Davis was actually present during the meeting and shot the footage because he was involved with the 60 Minutes Special on the story.
