Macbeth is Vishal Bhardwaj's favorite play. He wanted to make a movie for mature audiences after his debut with the children's movie Makdee (Shabana Azmi played the witch for free in that one), and chose his favorite dark-story.
Maqbool was officially Irrfan Khan's first lead role as a Hero in a Bollywood production. The Warrior, released a few years earlier in film festivals, was a International British film in Hindi.