/> Dilip Mehta is in Toronto preparing for the Gala premiere of his directorial debut Cooking With Stella at the Toronto Film Festival. Among others the film stars Lisa Ray as a diplomat's wife.

Lisa has been a favourite of Dilip's sister Deepa Mehta. And now she's endeared herself to Dilip Mehta as well.

Dilip is shocked but very very hopeful of Lisa's recovery. "It came as a jolt to all her friends and fans. Lisa has a huge fan following in Canada.

There's a pall of gloom here. But I know she'll fight it out. It's a rare cancer. But it's combatable. And Lisa will do it. She has spirit.The cure is Lisa's birthright. No one can deprive her of it."

What Dilip admires the most is the manner in which Lisa confronted her illness.

"Lisa looked the illness in the face and has taken it on. She has shared her crisis with the world and is now ready to battle it out. Nothing can keep it down. Lisa is an effervescent person. She carries happiness and hope wherever she goes."

Lately Lisa has been traveling a lot.

"She shot in Delhi with us. Then she was in Kerala traveling with her father, not because she wanted to travel the destinations of her liking in a final kind of way but because she wanted to see the world.

She's a free spirit. She recently lost her mother after an illness. And she needed to rejuvenate her spirit."

Dilip says Lisa never allowed her illness to dampen her spirit while shooting.

"While we shot Cooking With Stella there was just that hint that her body was acting up. But you know how it is.

You get a cough and you hope it won't be anything worse and it will go away. Lisa shot the film without letting her health problem show up."

Ends Dilip, "I've no doubt she'll fight out this crisis in her life. She has gained so much positivity and goodwill all across the world."