Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan refused this Tamil blockbuster; Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan rejected its cult Hindi remake

Shankar had first offered the 1999 political action film Mudhalvan to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan before casting Arjun. In 2001, when he made its Bollywood remake Nayak, his first choices were Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan but eventually, he made his Hindi directorial debut with Anil Kapoor.