The supporting cast includes Kirron Kher, Smita Jaykar, and Vijayendra Ghatge. In August 2000, Kher was cast as Paro's mother, Sumitra. She had always wanted to work with Bhansali after sees his work in "Khamoshi: The Musical" and "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", and met him at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival when the screening of her film, the drama "Bariwali", in 2000. He offered Kher two roles, Sumitra and Devdas' mother Kaushalya, but the director suggested her to choose the former role. In an interview with Rediff.com, she described the role as "a very definite character, never seen on the big screen before", and found it to be different compared with other mother roles from any films. She also felt that it gave her "a lot of scope to perform—from a flamboyant, young and larger-than-life character." Kher later positively spoke of her rapport with him: "What made me keen on working with him was the bound script that he gave me and the unusual characterisation of Sumitra."