This is director Sriram Raghavan's first film to be filmed in two languages — Hindi and Tamil. While many cast members appear in both versions, a handful of roles (notably Yadhoom Uncle, Ronnie and the police officers) are portrayed by different actors.
The film draws its inspiration from Frederic Dard's French novel Le monte-charge (Bird in a Cage).
Sriram Raghavan pays a heartfelt tribute to his favourite crime-thriller film Jewel Thief by reusing its background music in a few of the key scenes of his film Rishi Vij.
The film marks Sriram Raghavan's second collaboration with music director Pritam, who previously teamed up with him on 'Agent Vinod'. It is Raghavan's second-longest film, with a running time of 2 hours 24 minutes, only surpassed by 'Agent Vinod' (2 hours 37 minutes). It is also his third consecutive collaboration with actress Radhika Apte, following 'Badlapur' and 'Andhadhun'.
Saif Ali Khan was initially in contention for the part of Albert, which was ultimately portrayed by Vijay Sethupathi in the film.
This is Vijay Sethupathi's first starring role as the hero in a Hindi-language film.
Two lovely R D Burman tunes from 'Parinda' and 'Raja Rani' feature in the film's background score. Such nostalgic tributes to classic Hindi cinema are a regular feature of Sriram Raghavan's films.
To date, this is the only Sriram Raghavan film that took so long to be released despite its production being nearly finished. In numerous interviews after the release he cited the Covid years as the primary reason. Raghavan's previous film 'Andhadhun' was released in 2018 and this one in 2024, marking a five-year gap between the two.
The 'Merry Christmas' song from Home Alone (1991) can be heard in the church scene, played as part of the Christmas Mass.
The film is dedicated to Shakti Samanta, the maverick who made several classic romantic dramas starring Rajesh Khanna. The startling shot of Asha Parekh screaming that appears before the dedication credit is taken from Samanta's smash hit 'Kati Patang'.
In a scene filmed during a taxi journey featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina, the trumpet introduction heard in the background is the song 'Kai Baar Yun Bhi Dekha Hai', sung by Mukesh and composed by Salil Chowdhury. The piece originates from Basu Chatterjee's film 'Rajnigandha'.
Yash Chopra's cult, songless Rajesh Khanna-Nanda thriller 'Ittefaq' is undoubtedly one of director Sriram Raghavan's touchstones, as both films exhibit heightened suspense and an unusual chemistry between the two leads who spend a night together under extraordinary circumstances. He repeatedly highlighted this in numerous post-film-release promotional interviews.
Several scenes were filmed at the Regal Theatre in Mumbai.
The signature theme from the cult-classic thriller 'Teesri Manzil' is heard in several pivotal background scenes.
The trailers led many to assume the film would be a horror.
Sriram Raghvan paused his Varun Dhawan-led film Ikkis because of the COVID-19 pandemic and began work on this project. It had been due to launch in April 2021, but when Katrina Kaif tested positive for the virus the schedule was postponed, and the film was ultimately announced on 25 December 2021.
The film was originally scheduled for release on 21 December 2023, but was postponed to 12 January 2024.
The film opened on 12 January 2024 alongside the Telugu film Hanuman. Although it had a modest start at the box office, it was well received by audiences.
