Though widely recognized as a Danny Boyle film, Indian casting director Loveleen Tandan had been asked by Boyle to step up from her casting director duties, ultimately ensuring authenticity of the film’s India-set sequences.
Lonkar was chosen for the role as the teenage Latika when her uncle, an acquaintance of Slumdog Millionaire co-director Loveleen Tandan, encouraged her to go for the audition; unfortunately, the scene for which she was auditioning was cut out of the film.