 Shahid Kapoor was cast in the film 's lead role . Several media outlets reported that Bhardwaj considered many actors before casting Kapoor in the role , which he refused . Bhardwaj refuted the claims , saying , " There is a huge difference between discussing and narrating and offering someone a film and I would like to clear up the rumour by saying that Kaminey was never offered to anyone else and so no one rejected it . " Kapoor said that he accepted the role after reading the script . Priyanka Chopra was cast to play Sweety , the lead female role . She initially turned down the role , saying she felt it was a boys ' film and her eight @-@ scene part did not seem good enough . However , Bhardwaj persuaded her to accept the role . The idea for casting the screenwriter Amol Gupte came from the casting director Honey <unk> . Gupte said that when he received a call from <unk> , he thought it was a joke . He stated , " A man named Honey introduced himself as Vishal Bhardwaj 's casting director and offered me a very important role . I banged the phone down not believing a word of what he said " . However , after meeting <unk> and hearing a script reading , he loved the story and accepted the offer . The actors Chandan Roy Sanyal , Shiv <unk> , Hrishikesh Joshi , <unk> Dutta and Deb Mukherjee were cast in supporting roles . For the role of drug dealer Tashi , Bhardwaj chose his friend Tenzing Nima — a tour operator in Mussoorie — saying he had the character and attitude he wanted , and a weird sense of humour . 
