Konkana Sen Sharma signed on to play the leading female role in the Hindi and Bengali versions of the film in June 2006 and revealed that director Rituparno Ghosh had originally approached  Aparna Sen with the script in the 1990s. Arshad Warsi was initially selected to play the lead role in the Hindi version of the film but walked out demanding higher remuneration and was replaced by Sanjay Suri.
In June 2006, Konkana Sen Sharma signed on to play the leading female role in both the Hindi and Bengali versions of the film. Director Rituparno Ghosh had originally approached Aparna Sen with the script in the 1990s. Arshad Warsi was initially chosen for the lead role in the Hindi version but left the project, demanding a higher salary, and was replaced by Sanjay Suri.