A poster of Champak Sarmar Sholay

Guwahati, June 12: Kitne aadmi the?

Sholay fans, you got it right. Teen aadmi — Ramesh Sippy, Ram Gopal Varma and Champak Sarma.

A month after Ram Gopal Varma Ka Sholay hits the cinemas in July, Assam will have its very own version of the cult Sippy saga that nobody had dared to replicate in 32 years. But Sarma’s take on Sholay will be different from Varma’s tribute to his favourite film.

The veteran actor-director will mount the story of Thakur, Viru and Jai’s epic struggle with Gabbar Singh on the mobile-theatre stage, marking another first for a medium that continues to thrive on the strength of innovation.

While Varma chose to do a role reversal — turning the original Jay (Amitabh Bachchan) into Gabbar for his film —Champak Sarmar Sholay will have the director himself going under the skin of Indian cinema’s most celebrated villainous character.

“Theatre lovers goaded me into bringing Sholay to the proscenium. It’s been two years since I toyed with the idea of turning the film into a play. I am happy that my dream project is finally ready,” Sarma said.

But what if the outlawed Ulfa, which recently accused mobile theatre of adopting everything that is wrong with Bollywood culture, stands in the way? Will Champak Sarmar Sholay be as much of a rebellion against Ulfa’s diktat as a fight between Gabbar and Ramgarhwallon (residents of Ramgarh)?

“They (Ulfa) do not have any understanding of art or culture. Otherwise, they would not have made such a comment,” Sarma said.

On the inevitable comparisons with Varma’s film, the soft-spoken theatre veteran said it would be unfair to judge his work with that of the Bollywood maverick. “The stage has its limitations, while the medium of cinema is vast and limitless. I have used technology to bring the sights and sounds of the original film to life on stage, but the audience must realise that a play cannot be a film, irrespective of how hard I try.”

Another challenge for Sarma was to retain the earthiness of the dialogues of Sholay in a different language. Would the audience, for instance, accept Gabbar asking “Kimanjon aasil?” instead of “Kitne aadmi the...”?

“To rework Gabbar’s famous dialogues is no joke. But I have given it a shot. I am personally very excited to reprise Amjad Khan’s immortal Gabbar act,” Sarma said

The rest of the cast includes some of the best actors in the mobile theatre industry. Pranjit Das will enact the role of Thakur, Biraj Balabh will play Viru and Parag Sarma will be Jai. The role of the fast-talking Basanti has gone to Kabita Chutia.

Champak Sarmar Sholay will be staged under the banner of Rajshree Mobile Theatre Productions.