Zareen Khan and Anshuman Jha-starrer loses its five day footage

Zareen Khan with director Harish Vyas and DoP Faroukh Mistry

Zareen Khan's next, Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele, may have an interesting script. For now though, there appears to be more drama off-screen than on it for the Harish Vyas-directed project. The film's crew, which wrapped up its first schedule in McLeodganj in the first week of July, finds itself in a strange dilemma - Hardik Joshi, the Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) on the film, has misplaced the hard drive that contained five-days of shoot material from the first schedule.

Turns out, he had informed cinematographer Faroukh Mistry of the loss last week, but the director of photography (DoP) chose to keep the matter from the director. Now, Vyas has registered a case of criminal breach of trust and cheating (Section 405 and 420 of Indian Penal Code) against Mistry and Joshi at the Dindoshi police station. A source from the unit of the Anshuman Jha-starrer tells mid-day, "After a month-long schedule in McLeodganj, we returned to Mumbai on July 5. Over the next week, our calls to the DIT converter went unanswered, and he did not show up at the studio either. Finally, we had to go to his house where he was holed up. It then came to light that he had misplaced two 4TB hard drives containing five days of shooting footage and the back-up from our first schedule.

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Not just that, he said that his boss Faroukh Mistry knew of the development for the past week. However, Faroukh denied any knowledge of this incident." Confirming the news, Jha says, "It has been an absolute nightmare, but I am hopeful that we will recover the data. I am grateful to the Mumbai Police for their prompt response. I hope they make some headway in the case, else we will have to go back and re-shoot." The director, in the meanwhile, has already started making arrangements for a re-shoot. "I hope the cops can find the hard drives. In any case, we are working out Anshuman and Zareen's dates for the re-shoot, should the need arise," says Vyas.

Also Read: Harish Vyas: Zareen Khan and Anshuman Jha's chemistry will entertain the audience

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