/> The bonding between Bangla auteur Rituparno Ghosh and national icon Amitabh Bachchan in Kolkata on the sets of The Last Lear is now fodder for instant folklore.

So amused and exasperated was the Big B by Ritu's physical makeover that he constantly ribbed the director about it.

Fondly recalling the experience of working with what the director considers to be greatest entertainer in showbiz, Ritu says, "Amitda wouldn't let me hear the end of my physical change.

You see, I've lost twelve kgs and I've shaved my head. Amitda nicknamed me 'Adolf' and insisted on holding on to a mock-mood of terror on the sets.

It was hilarious because my entire unit would suppress their giggles when that Bachchan baritone would boom across the set, 'Adolf, I'm so scared of you.'

What the creative artiste in Ritu discovered about the Big B is his unparalleled commitment to the craft.

"Amitda can hold to a particular emotion for as long as he wants. We had to do an abnormal mood one day. Not only did he adopt a particular accent on camera he held on that accent even off camera throughout the day."

What unsettled Ritu was the Big B's undemonstrative demeanour. "He's very embarrassed by all show of emotions, in himself and others. I was shooting a scene where he had to take off his shoes.

I instinctively came forward to do so, as I always do to get the physicality of my actors in place. But he sprang up and said he'd do it himself.

'Why, Amitda, what's wrong if I do it?' I protested. 'No, you'll steal my shoes,' he joked. Amitda has internalized all his emotions. You won't catch him off-guard."

On the last day of shooting with the Big B, Ritu brought his old and frail father on the set. "Amitda didn't say a word. But I could see him observing my interaction with my father. Somewhere he stores away all his experiences and perhaps thinks about them in solitude."

Ritu has got his perfect actor in the Big B. "Did I earlier say I'd like to make a dozen films with him? After completing my work with him I want him to be in every film that I make. And I promise you I won't misuse his presence."