Most people had no idea what the title meant, and the film's promotional material simply stated that it was an Aamir Khan film, therefore it was probably worth our money. Anil Sharma, who directed Gadar, just had a great comeback with Gadar 2, while Ashutosh Gowariker, who was regarded as the more competent filmmaker at the time, has seemingly vanished from the filmmaking world.

After over ten years as an actor, Ashutosh Gowariker made his directorial debut with Pehla Nasha. Ashutosh made his acting debut in Ketan Mehta's Holi, which also starred Aamir Khan. Later, Ashutosh worked on other projects with Shah Rukh, including Circus, Chamatkar, and Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na.