Overview

• Mehta says there is no surviving record of the film after Adlabs warned producers to claim reels during its shutdown and then destroyed the negatives.
• He plans a Hansal Mehta film festival, though the 2000 title will be missing because the original elements are gone.
• Negatives of his 2002 film Chhal have been retrieved, with restoration underway in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation.
• Mehta notes ongoing access hurdles for his catalog, saying he struggled to screen Shahid and cannot afford to buy its rights.
• Marking the anniversary, he reflected that the film’s failure once led to alcohol, debt and bankruptcy, lessons he says he has since made peace with.