If the original was shot in locations in and around Tamil Nadu, the scene shifts to Bombay, and interior Maharashtra, for the Hindi version. A village in Vai, outside Pune, formed one of the main locales (Rani Mukherji, who plays the female lead, is a village belle). Bombay's beauty and squalor have both formed grist for the camera's mill, as have locales as varied as the Sivasamudram Falls and Srinagar.

"For this song, which compares love, in turn, to each of the five elements, we even went to the area where the Kargil war was fought, to altitudes higher even then Leh," recalls Anand. "It was hard breathing in that rarefied atmosphere. Plus there were no facilities. We all stayed in tents and the food available was, how to put it, existential at best. But it was huge fun. Similarly, to get the crystal blue skies we needed for one part of a song sequence, we went location hunting all over. We finally found the exact shade we need over Srinagar."

While on the subject, the music used in the Hindi version stays faithful to the Tamil original. But in places, composer A R Rahman has lightly retouched bits to adapt to changes and modifications the director has made for Nayak.

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