Child actor of 'Lion' movie denied US visa to attend screening for 'immigration concerns'

We don’t know yet what Donald Trump-led America would look like for Indians planning to visit the United States, but this week we may have gotten a glimpse of it. A child Indian actor was denied from entering the United States this week to attend the screening of his movie.

Wide-eyed 8-year-old Indian actor, Sunny Pawar, failed to get the US visa he needed to enter the country this week for the screening of movie 'Lion', in which he stars with Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, and David Wenham.

Pawar was hoping to attend the premieres of the movie in Los Angeles this Friday and in New York City next week with his father. The US Consulate in Mumbai denied the visa because of "immigration concerns", the film’s distributor The Weinstein Company said.

“We are devastated that Sunny, an 8-year-old boy who is part of this amazing film and who is garnering such strong reactions from his performance, cannot be here to be a part of this experience,” David Glasser, Weinstein Co. president and COO told Variety.

Glasser said that the company believes this "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 fully intend to go through the proper resources and appeal with the State Department for assistance.”

'Lion', which has received glorious reviews, is the story of Saroo Brierley, an Australian man who uses Google Earth to find and locate the family he was separated from in India. Pawar has played the role of the character's younger days, with Dev Patel playing the older-aged Brierley.