Actor Shah Rukh Khan did not ask for any remuneration from Kamal Haasan, as he considered it an honour and privilege to work with one of his mentors. Haasan initially intended to title the film as "Satya Sodanai", which loosely translates to "My Experiments With Truth", the title of Gandhi's autobiography. The role of Shriram Abhyankar played by Atul Kulkarni was supposed to be played by noted Marathi actor Mohan Gokhale; he had started working on film in Madras but passed away suddenly in his sleep due to a heart attack. Hassan later roped in Kulkarni, another noted Marathi actor, to do this role, becoming one of the best performances of his career.