thus giving Varma the idea for Company. During his research for Satya (1998), Varma found out several things he could not incorporate into one film, especially the police procedures, because there was too much information. Varma said he drew inspiration for the supporting characters and scenes from the staff of his own production company. He said Haneef's version of the underworld war gave him a story while his research gave him the "atmosphere". He found a strong resemblance with the rivalries between criminals and those between politicians because he felt "human nature is same everywhere". Varma was also inspired by the September 2000 attack on Rajan in Bangkok, which was perceived as the intelligence agencies pitting one gang against another. He later met several crime reporters, police officers and associates of gangsters regarding the research of the film. The film's screenplay was written by Jaideep Sahni. Company was Malayalam actor Mohanlal's debut role in a Hindi film. He played IPS Veerapalli Srinivasan, a character based on the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Dhanushkodi Sivanandhan. Varma described the character as someone who looks "more like a professor and treats crime as a disease and criminals as patients". The role of Malik was first offered to Manoj Bajpayee who declined it due to date issues. The role eventually went to Ajay Devgn. Varma wanted to keep the mafia boss character calm and composed, which he based on Devgn's personality. Suresh Oberoi wanted to launch the career of his son Vivek Oberoi in an Abbas–Mustan film but he said he "would like to go through my struggle". After that, he met Varma, who said he wanted to cast someone as a gangster living in a slum and said Vivek Oberoi "look(s) too good for the role". Oberoi asked Varma for 15 days, during which he stayed in the slums and slept on the floor. He rubbed oils and creams on his body, and sun-bathed daily to look darker for the role. He applied some mud to his face on the day of his meeting with Varma, and was eventually selected for his debut role as Chandu. Manisha Koirala was cast as Saroja, a role which Varma described as very "atmospheric". Hemant Chaturvedi served as the director of photography and Chandan Arora edited the film. Location filming for the project took place in the slums of Mumbai, Mombasa, Nairobi, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. The