Shabd was Leena Yadav's debut movie. Yet Aishwarya Rai took barely a minute to say yes to the screenplay. So did Sanjay Dutt. But the reference to a sardar joke in the film resulted in angry Sikhs storming the PNC office, demanding the scene be cut. It was. The movie was filmed in 40 days. The script of Shabd was selected for the Margaret Herrick library, which is the official library for the Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Science.