Guwahati, Aug. 19: A new season began tonight for Assam?s most popular form of entertainment, mobile theatre, with the spotlight fixed on some top cinema actors who have rediscovered the stage.

Leading the bandwagon is veteran Nipon Goswami, who has returned to mobile theatre after a 14-year hiatus.

?The magic of mobile theatre is beyond words. There is constant interaction between the audience and actors, and unlike cinema, there is no chance of a retake. The stage is the ultimate test for an actor,? said Goswami just before he stepped onto the stage of Shakuntala Theatre.

Others who have followed Goswami to the stage are the accomplished Tapan Das, reigning heartthrob Prastuti Parashar and promising actors Akashdeep, Monita Kakoti, Urmimala Barua, Nayan Nirban, Paul Phukan and Diganta Mili.

?Thankfully, mine was not the banishment of Lord Ram. Rather, work in films and family affairs kept me away from my first love,? Goswami said.

The veteran actor?s first comeback appearance was in the Abhijit Bhattacharjee-directed play, Morome Morom Bisare.

Like his illustrious colleague, Das found the call of the stage ?irresistible? and decided to join a mobile theatre group despite having several film offers in hand. His last film, Dinobandhu, won a national award.

Appropriately, most mobile theatre groups launched their plays of the season from the birthplace of the genre, Pathsala. And the advance bookings indicate it is going to be a season of success.

?Coming to enjoy mobile theatre is a ritual for the Assamese,? said Ratan Lahkar, producer of Pathsala-based theatre troupe Kohinoor. ?This is the only form of entertainment to which audiences across the length and breadth of the state can easily relate.?

The big banners that staged their plays today include Kohinoor, Abahan, Sakuntala, Hengul, Saraighat and Aasirwad. The rest will follow over the next few days.

Each of the 40 small and big troupes currently in business will stage four plays each during the season, which works out to an astounding 160 plays in eight months.

Innovation and smart packaging have always been the hallmark of Assamese mobile theatre and, true to tradition, even the fledgling Sakuntala Theatre has lined up big-budget productions on its debut. Kohinoor is banking on a Dalmatian, Spotty, to attract audiences looking for something different.

Apart from popular cinema actors, national award-winning singer-composer Tarali Sarma and director Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee have hopped onto the theatre caravan. Bhattacharjee has directed Shakespeare?s Othello for Kohinoor, while Tarali has scored the music for the same play.

The Abahan troupe, known for its powerful scripts and technical innovation, has embraced the challenge of recreating a tsunami on stage in a play of the same name.