'Kaante' director Sanjay Gupta revealed that many producers turned down the 2002 film because the actors were above 40 and the film had no romance or music. "That was the era when Shah Rukh Khan's love stories were ruling," he recalled. Gupta added that while Amitabh Bachchan "was sold at the first narration", Akshaye Khanna refused to star in it.