This is the first movie released in British cinemas (different screens and different film prints) in two languages: English and Hindi.
Om Puri played Nahari in Gandhi (1982), which also dealt with the transition of British India to self governance and the partition of India in 1947.
Gillian Anderson turned down the role of Cora, Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey (2010), starring Hugh Bonneville.