In what is being hailed as an effect of immigration paranoia in the US, eight-year-old Sunny Pawar from India who plays a key role in the Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman-starrer Lion has been denied a visa to enter the country.

The Australian-American-British drama directed by Garth Davis is the real life story of Saroo Brierley, an Australian who used Google Earth to find the family he was separated from in India. Sunny reportedly dominates the screen for much of the film's first hour, playing five-year-old Saroo. Dev is the adult Saroo, Nicole plays his Australian mother. Lion will release on November 25 in the US and Sunny was supposed to be a part of the promotions.

“We are devastated that Sunny, cannot be here to be a part of this experience. We are doing everything we can to fight this; we believe it must be the effect of immigration paranoia. He, of course, poses absolutely no threat to anyone. We want him to be a part of the celebration of this film and his performance. We intend to go through proper resources and appeal with the State Department for assistance,“ David Glasser, president and COO of the studio, Weinstein Co, said in a statement. The studio is attempting to obtain a last-minute visa for Sunny and his father.