whereas Avinasi / Avinash is in love and wants to be that protective person. Rao appoints Chettiar / Mehta to handle the ransom and what follows is a series of humorous mix-ups. In the end, all settle their differences and become the board of directors of Avinasi / Avinash's Mumbai Express, a mega-bar owned by Avinasi / Avinash and Ahalya, now married, to a happy ending. Cast Tamil version Kamal Haasan as Avinasi / Avinash (Mumbai Xpress) Manisha Koirala as Ahalya Nassar as ACP S.P. Rao Santhana Bharathi as Chettiar Ramesh Aravind as Thambhu, Insurance agent Pasupathy as Chidambaram Sharat Saxena as Inspector Saxena Kovai Sarala as Durga, Avinasi's sister Dheena as Raju Vaiyapuri as Johnson Hardik Thakar as Hardhik (Daddu) Hindi version All characters mentioned above in the Tamil version are the same in the Hindi version except Avinasi's name is Avinash and the characters played by Nassar, Bharathi, Pasupathy, Sarala, and Vaiyapuri have been played by different actors. Om Puri as ACP S.P. Rao Saurabh Shukla as Kishore Mehta Pratima Kazmi as Durga Dinesh Lamba as Johnson Vijay Raaz as Digambar Raza Murad as Rao's relative Production In May 2004, Kamal Haasan and Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao were keen to make a Hindi and Tamil bilingual film titled Kumar Sambhavam with Madhuri Dixit as the lead actress. Kamal Haasan stated he needed a "woman of substance who would look convincing as a wife and mother" and stated there was "no second choice" for the role. Bharat Shah was set to finance the project and negotiated terms with Dixit to work on the project, having earlier worked with her during the making of Devdas (2002). The film was dropped after Dixit quoted a salary, which was more than the whole cost of the film itself. Kamal Haasan later expressed his disappointment at the film not materialising as a result of Dixit's refusal. He later agreed to work with Rao on another proposed film titled KG alongside Ramesh Aravind, but it also was dropped. Kamal Haasan then decided to fund the film and Crazy Mohan was approached to write the dialogues, though the writer later pulled out of the venture as he went for a tour to United States. Tabu initially turned down the offer citing date problems. In October 2004, it was reported that Kamal Haasan had agreed to act in Singeetham Srinivasa Rao's next film, which was retitled Mumbai