What a co-incidence! One fine day, Saif Ali Khan and her mom Sharmila were discussing Shakespeare and she said Saif should do a movie (either Hamlet or Othello) on one of Shakespeare's plays. The very next day Kumarmangat called and asked if Saif would like to work in Vishal's interpretation of Othello and he said yes. Saif explains, "Kumarji wanted me to play Iago. I was not so keen on Iago, until he read out the first scene and it was like a Western movie. It was so well written. I just agreed on the basis of that first scene! The most attractive thing about the script was that it was a very close adaptation of the original in movement and character."