By Subhash K Jha

The shooting of The Last Lear would be memorable for all the principal players for many reasons. For one, they all lost a lot of weight, thanks to Arjun Rampal who wanted to put all his co-stars on the General Motors crash diet.

While Amitabh Bachchan firmly declined the offer, Preity Zinta and the director Rituparno Ghosh took on the challenge...While Preity continues to follow the diet even after the shooting, Ritu chickened out after a few days, thanks to the timely warning by Shefali Shah.

Recalls Ritu, "I liked the idea of losing weight. But after a few days I realized I was going about it the wrong way. I was wondering whether I should start afresh. But then Shefali advised me against it. And I gave it up."

What Ritu will always recall on the shooting for The Last Lear is Divya Dutta's kind medication.

"She gave me a lovely medicines for my diabetes recommended by her mother who's a practising doctor. I'll never forget Divya's gesture. The Last Lear has been a memorable experience on many counts. Most importantly it gave me a chance to work with talent like Amit-da, Shefali, Divya, Preity and Arjun. I felt like a child in toy-store."

Apparently during one of shooting schedules Ritu covered his shaven pate with a wig meant for Mr Bachchan and romped all over.

Laughs Ritu, "We called it Amit-da's Lalu Yadav wig. I wore it strode around nonchalantly. People looked at me as though I had lost it. Amit-da was full of masti throughout the shooting."