Mallika Sherawat over stressed with Hisss

Mallika Sherawat recently completed a schedule of Jennifer Lynch's Hisss in the jungles and backwaters of Kerala. It was almost as if she was holding on for the schedule to end. On her return to Mumbai, the actress collapsed.

Says Vikram Singh, Mallika's brother and co-producer (along with Govind Menon and Ratan Jain) of Hisss, "Mallika has been suffering from extreme exhaustion and very high fever ever since she returned from Thekkady, where we were shooting. She's resting at home but is still very weak. She had high fever on the sets but she chose to shoot through it. We had doctors and medical aid on the sets around the clock."

Though Mallika had doctors on the sets, she refused to take too much medication. Vikram adds, "Though there were doctors on standby Mallika doesn't believe in medication. She's a naturalist and believes getting cured the natural way or through yoga, so severe exhaustion hit her once the shoot got over."

The actress is suffering from exhaustion and high fever because of the rigorous schedule. "She was shooting every day from 5 am till late evening for the last 15 days. And it would rain heavily every day. Also the jungle was infested with insects and leeches which crept inside her snake suit and would make it difficult for her to remove. The leeches, especially, were all over her body as she had to lie down on the ground," confirms her brother.

But before she took ill, Vikram, Jennifer and the unit of Hisss had a Diwali celebration in the jungle. Vikram says, "We called a pandit who only chants Sanskrit hymns to do a puja. We had idols of Lakshmi and Ganesh. It was very nice and a different way of celebrating."