Bluffmaster was adapted from Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men (2003), starring Nic Cage and Sam Rockwell.
It also drew plot-points from the 2000 Argentine film Nine Queens.
The lead character in both Matchstick Men and Bluffmaster is named Roy.
It was the second feature directed by Rohan Sippy, son of veteran director-producer Ramesh Sippy. Rohan's first film, Kuch Naa Kaho (2003), was also with Abhishek Bachchan.
Bluffmaster was Abhishek's followup to successive hits like Dhoom and Bunty Aur Babli. The latter had also starred him as a conman.
Initially, Sanjay Dutt meant to play the titular role of Roy, while Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai were cast as Dittu and Simmi.
However, the role finally went to Abhishek and Priyanka Chopra and Riteish Deshmukh joined the cast.
Both Sanjay and Aishwarya are thanked in the film's credits.
The film playing in the cinema hall during a caper scene is Rohan's own Kuch Na Kaho.
In one scene, Roy gets into a cab with the license plate MH 01 9211.
The same cab provides the title of Milan Luthria's Taxi No. 9211, which released the next year. Both films are mild crime-comedies set in Bombay (can make a great double feature).
Nana Patekar, who stars alongside John Abraham in Taxi No, 9211, has an extended cameo in Bluffmaster. He essays a hotel owner who mock-harasses Simmi in one scene (several years later....)
This was Riteish Deshmukh's fourth film, after Tujhe Meri Kasam, Masti and Kya Kool Hai Hum.
Abhishek rapped for the track Right Here Right Now, voiced by Sunidhi Chauhan.
He's regarded as the OG rapper among Bollywood actors, though the title goes back to Ashok Kumar in the 1968 film Aashirwad.
Rohan Sippy, the film's director, makes a cameo in Right Here Right Now. So does supermodel Carol Gracias.
Swedish-Iranian singer Arash Labaf has a special appearance in the song Buro Buro. The track was sampled from Bombay Rocker's Sexy Mama.
Bluffmaster was a 'semi-hit' becoming the 17th highest-grossing Hindi film of 2005.
Abhishek and Priyanka would later reunite for Dostana and Drona, both released in 2008.
Abhishek and Rohan later collaborated on Dum Maaro Dum (2011).
The film's music is by Vishal- Shekhar, while the background score was composed by Sameeruddin.
