In 1998, a right-wing political party in India had prevented famous Pakistani Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali from performing in Mumbai. Ghulam Ali is much loved on both sides of the border, and continues to have concerts in many cities of India. In a twisted echo of this incident, Naseeruddin Shah plays a Pakistani Ghazal singer who turns out to be a terrorist in this movie.
John Matthew Matthan started working on Sarfarosh in 1992. Seven years were spent on the research, post production and production till it finally released in 1999.
Mukesh Rishi for the first time did not play a villain. He was quite appreciated for his performance and also nominated for the Best Supporting Actor category at the 2000 Filmfare Awards.
Sarfarosh is Aamir Khan and Naseerudin Shah's second film together. Many people think this was their first time working together, but this is not true, because they have previously worked together in the art house film Holi (1984).
Naseeruddin Shah was specially praised for his role of a Muhajir(Muslim Indians who migrated to Pakistan after the Partition of India)