'Last Lear' team's unique gift to Rituparno

Director Rituparno Ghosh couldn't have asked for a better birthday present from his "The Last Lear" team, including Preity Zinta and Amitabh Bachchan - they completed the entire dubbing of the film by the special day.

And the dubbing was indeed quite difficult. "Difficult isn't the word," says Preity.

"First of all I have been doing a series of in-sync sound films lately. So dubbing ... and that too for my first film in English with long flowing lines...it was tough. And to top it all there's Mr Bachchan with his booming baritone. What an orator he is! I felt so humbled," she said.

But Preity and the rest of the cast including Bachchan, who had to dub the toughest Shakespearean lines of his career, had secretly set a deadline.

The director, who turned 44 Friday, has finally completed all the dubbing and is all set to return to Kolkata.

Says Rituparno: "I feel like singing like Waheeda Rehman in 'Guide'. I feel liberated! I couldn't have hoped for a better birthday present. It has been a tense time for me. I've been so much in and out of Mumbai that I've forgotten my home is in Kolkata.

"Ideally I'd have liked to bring in my birthday with my baba (dad) in Kolkata. But never mind, my 'Lear' team has given me a gift I'd never forget."

The team also sent Rituparno back to Kolkata with personally signed messages on the script. "Those messages are too personal to be published. But the love for my team, I'll never forget it."

Indo-Asian News Service