van gasteren worked hard to get an interview with meher baba for "nema aviona za zagreb". in 1967 meher baba was near the end of his life and in strict seclusion. through the help of numerous contacts with people he met in his travels who had met baba in the 60s, including irwin luck, rick chapman, and robert dreyfuss, van gasteren was at last able to reach baba's secretary and arrange a meeting. van gasteren told baba, "the appearance of the avatar in my film is more than functional, it is necessary, to give all the other happenings and sequences the final and right dimension." the terms were that the shooting could only take place on september 20, 1967, during a short period when baba would be coming out of seclusion for three hours in order to wash the feet of seven lepers, the last of such an occasion in baba's life. van gasteren was told that if he was there on time, he could film and interview baba. van gasteren arrived in bombay on september 17, and at meherazad at precisely 9:00 a.m. on september 19, accompanied by cameraman jan de bont and soundman peter brugman, and was shown around the location in preparation for the following day's shoot and met baba. the following day, september 20, the crew filmed forty minutes of film footage of baba and the surrounding area, including the interview seen in the film. about half of this footage was released in the 1997 documentary, "beyond words".