Apart from "Bollywood Calling", which featured veteran actor Om Puri, Kukunoor's previous films such as "Hyderabad Blues" (1998) and "Rockford" did not feature mainstream actors. In this film, Kukunoor felt it exciting to cast and work with several established actors such as Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah and Juhi Chawla. While writing the script for the film, Kukunoor kept Chawla in mind for the character of Chandrika. He did so because he wanted Chawla's "naive honesty" to be fashioned into the character. Though Chawla was typecast in light-hearted roles in her acting career, Kukunoor chose to go against the norm by casting her in a serious role.