 Shahid Kapoor was cast in the film's lead role. Several media outlets reported that Bhardwaj considered many actors before casting Kapoor in the role, which he refused. Bhardwaj refuted the claims, saying, "There is a huge difference between discussing and narrating and offering someone a film and I would like to clear up the rumour by saying that Kaminey was never offered to anyone else and so no one rejected it." Kapoor said that he accepted the role after reading the script. Priyanka Chopra was cast to play Sweety, the lead female role. She initially turned down the role, saying she felt it was a boys' film and her eight-scene part did not seem good enough. However, Bhardwaj persuaded her to accept the role. The idea for casting the screenwriter Amol Gupte came from the casting director Honey Terhan. Gupte said that when he received a call from Terham, he thought it was a joke. He stated, "A man named Honey introduced himself as Vishal Bhardwaj's casting director and offered me a very important role. I banged the phone down not believing a word of what he said". However, after meeting Bhradwaj and hearing a script reading, he loved the story and accepted the offer. The actors Chandan Roy Sanyal, Shiv Subramnayam, Hrishikesh Joshi, Rajatava Dutta and Deb Mukherjee were cast in supporting roles. For the role of drug dealer Tashi, Bhardwaj chose his friend Tenzing Nima — a tour operator in Mussoorie — saying he had the character and attitude he wanted, and a weird sense of humour.
