From living in a slum near Kalina, Mumbai, to sharing screen space with some of the most renowned actors in the world, Sunny Pawar, gained worldwide recognition for his role in the movie Lion (2017) directed by Garth Davis. Sunny, who lives with his parents, Dilip and Vasu, in a single room, was cast in the movie after Garth and casting director Kirsty McGregor went through more than 2000 audition tapes. Garth later said, “For me, when I’m looking at all the kids, anyone who kind of touched that place in me, I thought we were getting close. But it was never a bull’s-eye, really, until one day, this little Sunny came into the room and he was kind of pretty instant for me,”

Sunny has two siblings – a brother, Jignesh, and a sister, Divisha – has attended the Air India Modern School. It was only after Sunny's pursuasion that his father agreed for the audition, when the crew came to his school. Soon after he bagged the role, his father quit his housekeeping job in order to support him, while his mother decided to take care of his siblings. However, Sunny was not the initial choice for the role. He was shortlisted in the final three but lost his place to another actor. It was only after the other selected boy dropped out, the role was given to Sunny. Having no command on English language, Sunny learned English phonetically on the sets. In an interview, his mother later revealed that 'Sunny grew up watching Bollywood movies,' Vasu said. 'He loved acting and always wanted to be on television.