He flew to Prague three weeks later.

When the end credits rolled—the 4K restoration credit reading "Preserving tears, one pixel at a time" —the theatre erupted. Not in whistles. In applause. Soft, reverent, like rain on a tin roof.

They worked for six weeks. Frame by frame, removing dirt, fixing flicker, but never scrubbing the grain—the soul of celluloid. When they played the restored Tere Liye title track in the mixing theatre, the low-end bass of the tabla felt like a heartbeat. The high frequencies of the flute made Arjun remember the humid Mumbai night they'd recorded it.

Arjun gasped.