The idea to make a film about her story first occurred to Wheeler when she cast Chula, already diagnosed with cancer in real life, as a cancer patient who dispenses philosophical advice in her 2008 TV movie, Living Out Loud. When Wheeler and Chula worked together again the following year on Carl Bessai's film Fathers & Sons, Chula shared the story of a patient she'd met at a chemotherapy who credited her recovery to treatment in India. Wheeler, who had spent considerable time in India, decided to accompany Chula on her search for a cure.[2]