Starring Kay Kay Menon, Chitrangda Singh, and Shiney Ahuja, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005) was a semi-hit but garnered widespread love and acclaim over the years. Dismissing rumours of a remake, Sudhir Mishra, who served as both director and writer, says that a sequel could be worked out.

It is the time of re-releases, and Sudhir shares that there were talks about HKA, too, getting a re-release before the death of producer Pritish Nandy: “It’s surely in consideration. HKA was released without PR and was a minor hit. (But) the kind of viewership it got later is weird!”

The filmmaker feels that HKA is no longer his film: “Over the years, the audience made it their own.” He is also asked about a possible sequel or remake wherever he goes and shares, “A sequel can be done as the story of the three characters can move on. But, nothing should not be done just for the sake of it! If something comes to mind, it will be, but I can’t spoil the memory of the film – kharab nahin kar sakte.”

“The film was rejected by the National Award jury headed by (filmmaker) Basu Chatterjee. The industry thought that it would be sent for the Academy Awards but lost to Paheli (2005). But HKA went to several festivals and won awards all over,” the filmmaker shares, adding “The test of a film is that it has meaning for its audience across time and keeps finding other audience. HKA does. That is the biggest award!”

Sudhir was certain about casting fresh faces for the film. He recalls how, Swanand Kirkire, who wrote and sang Bavra Mann and also appeared as a villager in the film, auditioned hundreds of actors for the lead roles.

“I had already cast someone for Shiney’s role, who is still very angry with me. But then, Zoya (Akhtar, filmmaker) sent Shiney. I originally tested him for Kay Kay’s role but changed it... Chitrangada was going to catch a flight when I called her... The only criteria was no known faces,” he recalls.