John Abraham
Acted with her in Deepa Mehta's Water
John Abraham, who did one of his best films (Deepa Mehta's Water) with Lisa Ray, is shocked to hear of her grave illness.
He woke up on Wednesday morning in London to the shocking news and is distressed. "Is this really true? My God!" he falls silent as he recalls the wonderful times he had, shooting with Lisa in Sri Lanka during Water. "She's an amazing person. Well-read and very hard working. Water was a turning point for both of us. Before Water, we were both considered more physically watchable people than actors."
Both John and Lisa spent collective time together getting the postures and language of the Gandhian era right. "I don't know how much I was able to transform myself. But Lisa just changed into another person. Those were fun times," sighs John, and reverts to his sense of shock in London. "I haven't really kept in touch with Lisa. After Water, we both got busy with our work. I must get her number and call her."
Sighs John, "The one thing that Lisa wants to do most, is travel. During Water, she said she wants to see as many corners of the world as possible. She's a total gypsy at heart. I hope her dream of travelling to every place in the world comes true."
Dilip Mehta
Who recently directed her in Cooking With Stella
Dilip Mehta is in Canada preparing for the Gala premiere of his directorial debut Cooking With Stella at the Toronto Film Festival. It stars Lisa Ray as a diplomat's wife. Lisa has been a favourite of Dilip's sister Deepa Mehta. He says, "It came as a jolt. She has a huge fan following in Canada. There's a pall of gloom here. It's a rare cancer, but it's combatable."
He admires the manner in which the actress has confronted her illness. "She has shared her crisis with the world and is now ready to battle it out. Lisa is an effervescent person. She carries happiness and hope wherever she goes."
Lately, Lisa has been travelling a lot. 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's nothing and will go away. Lisa shot the film without letting her health problem show up."
The director concludes by saying, "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."
Sanjay Dutt
Was to work with her in her Hindi debut film
That's terrible! Lisa and I were to do Rahul Rawail's Jungle but it didn't work out. She is a fantastic person - warm, bubbly and friendly. I had gone to meet her in Canada and was to stay at the hotel but ended up staying with her family. Her dad too is a great guy. I would love to help her in anyway that I can. It's unfortunate that we lost touch.
Bipasha Basu
Who became friends with her during her modelling days
It's shocking to hear about Lisa! It's tragic that someone so young and full of life would have cancer. I had met her when I had come to Mumbai to become a model and had come to meet photographer Farookh Chotia. She was very close to Farookh. I would meet her on and off. She was a friendly girl. And then we lost touch and met again during Raaz. She was to do the film with Dino and I had met her through him but something happened and Lisa backed out and I was doing the film. I still can't believe the fact that she's got cancer..."
Rahul Khanna
(Worked with her in Bollywood/Hollywood)
My thoughts and prayers are with Lisa. She's a tough cookie and not easy to knock down.
