Acknowledging Nagra's actual burn-scarred leg, Chadha wrote it into the film.
An intensive ten-week training course in the game Futebol de Salao, coached by , put Nagra through rigorous nine-hour-a-day workouts.
She agreed to audition and eventually accepted the role.
Nagra was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctors of Letters by the on 11 July 2007.