"Anand" was originally supposed to star actors Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in lead roles. One of the producers, N. C. Sippy, had earlier served as Mehmood's production manager. The character Babu Moshai was to be played by Mehmood. Mukherjee was asked to meet Kishore Kumar to discuss the project. However, when he went to Kishore Kumar's residence, he was driven away by the gatekeeper due to a misunderstanding. Kishore Kumar (himself a Bengali) had done a stage show organized by another Bengali man, and was involved in a dispute with this man over financial matters. He had instructed his gatekeeper to drive away this "Bengali", if he ever visited the house. The gatekeeper mistook Hrishikesh Mukherjee to be this "Bengali", and refused him entry. The incident hurt Mukherjee and he decided not to work with Kumar. Consequently, Mehmood had to leave the film as well. Both Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor were offered the lead before Rajesh Khanna.