/> If you don't believe in ghosts, then this is not the story for you. There's an eerie story secretly doing the rounds among the cast and crew of My Friend Pinto.

Apparently a lot of the crew members including Prateik, director Raghav Dhar and producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali felt Smita's presence while shooting with Prateik.

Says a member of the crew, "At times it was chilling. Not just Prateik or the director, many of us felt a presence. We don't know what or who it was. But there was definitely something there. "

Prateik has said in an interview to this writer that he would like to break away from the constant comparisons with his mother. However that seems unlikely considering Smita Patil is a constant in her son's life.

Throughout the making of his latest film, Smita's spirit hovered over the shooting to an eerie extent. So constant was her presence that the shooting would often be slowed down.

"To let Smita's presence pass by. We felt as though she was watching over us all through. It was more than uncanny. It was eerie. It came to a point where we began to feel she was physically present during the shooting.

We don't know how close Prateik feels to his mother at other shootings. But here she was with us all through. We firmly believe Smita was watching over her son, " says a source close to the film.

For a sequence where Prateik's character had to talk about his mother, the young actor expressed reservations.

Says the source, "Prateik didn't want to do the scene where his character talks about his mother. We convinced him it was necessary. When Prateik finally did the sequence he went into a kind of trance while speaking his lines. It was clear that he was addressing his own mother. He finally broke down while talking about his mother. "

Says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, "We don't know what it was. But we certainly felt something. Smita inspired me to sign Prateik. I was a big fan of hers. Though I didn't have the good fortune of working with Smita I saw her in every gesture in Prateik.

He is uncannily like Smita. The title and Prateik's name in the film, Pinto, came from a Smita starrer Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata hai. Smita was there throughout the making of the film. "

Speaking of the sequence where Prateik had to speak about his mother Bhansali said, "Prateik was so close to his own mother at that point that we could almost see her standing next to Prateik. "

Prateik is nowadays reluctant to talk about his mythical mother. And understandably so. The more he tries to attain his own identity beyond the indomitable aura of Smita Patil, the more she seems to be hovering over his life and career.