Time and again one hears about harmless pranks being played by co - stars on sets of a film. However, it isn't very often when things get really serious.

This is what happened during the shoot of 'Dabangg' when what seemed like a prank took the shape of a serious advice. It so happened when Salman Khan, the man with inarguably the best body in the entertainment business, took it upon himself to change the eating habits of Sonu Sood, the lead antagonist in the film.

Says a unit member who saw a friendly banter taking place practically every day on the long shooting schedule of 'Dabangg', "It is a known fact that Salman is a non vegetarian. He believes that meat is really good to make men big and stronger.

He has been a strong advocator of meat and inspires people around him to turn to non - veg as well. Sonu, who has working with Salman for the first time, wasn't spared either. Since he is a vegetarian, it came to Salman's notice."

It wasn't much time before Salman sat down to have a man to man chat with Sonu. Though it started out as a friendly conversation, it turned into a game of one - upmanship as both Salman and Sonu began explaining the benefits of non - veg and veg food respectively.

Laughs Sonu when reminded of the incident, "Salman always had a drive to turn me non - veg but I would have none of it. On the contrary I took it upon me to make him to go pure veg. I said to him that since meat has lot of oil, he should try reducing it in his overall diet. On the other hand he was also not giving up on making me start eating meat."

On Salman's persistence, Sonu did touch meat but smartly avoided any intake whatsoever.

"I remember Salman offering me chicken and saying that 'meri khatir yeh tujhe khaana padhega'. I hope he is not reading this because though I took it in my plate; I always used to slip it into the plate of the person sitting next to me. Salman never realized that though and felt happy that I had followed his advice. I couldn't help it though because I have never had meat in my life", smiles Sonu.

Today Sonu is happy that he won the battle. "He couldn't turn me into non vegetarian but I helped him reduce some meat from his diet for sure. I feel like winner".

Well Sonu, the film is still away from release. You never know what Salman is capable of. It may just be time for a war.