Jatin Bora and Barsha Rani Bishoya in a promotional for the play

Guwahati, July 5: The banned Ulfa may cringe at the very idea, but mobile theatre in Assam is “stooping low” — very low — to bring to the proscenium what none has ever tried before on the Indian stage.

Kohinoor Theatre, the trendsetter in Assam’s popular mobile theatre, will be staging a play on the life and love of a dwarf this year, the first such attempt on the Indian stage.

And what’s more, Assamese moviedom’s undisputed hero Jatin Bora will enact the lead role in the play, Abuj Dora, Achin Kanya.

A few weeks ago, Ulfa criticised the mobile theatre groups — especially Kohinoor Theatre — of bringing in “crude Bollywood style entertainment”.

The group’s producer, Tapan Lahkar, however, dismissed the outfit’s charge as “untenable” saying, “mobile theatre is still the only form of entertainment where a family can enjoy a show together”.

“Mobile theatre is not cheap entertainment. Each and every play carries strong social messages and that is why we have been able to survive the onslaught of other forms of entertainment,” Lahkar told The Telegraph today over phone from Pathsala, the group’s headquarters. “You can say that we are stooping low. But that is for a good cause,” Lahkar added in a jocular vein.

Lahkar said no one has ever attempted such a play before because of the “enormous technical challenge” to turn a six-foot man into a two-foot dwarf. “It’s not a very tall task in the cinematic medium. But on stage, it will require a mammoth effort. However, we know what to do. And we are bringing in a special effects expert from Mumbai to do the trick.”

Acclaimed actor Kamal Hassan had made a hit movie, Appu Raja, based on the life of a circus joker and he himself played the role of that dwarf.

Interestingly, Kohinoor’s dwarf is also a “joker” in a circus, but the similarity with Kamal Hassan’s film ends here.

Bora will, in fact, play triple roles in the play — one of a police officer, another of a filmstar and the third of the actual “hero” as the joker. “Each of the three characters have a connection with each other which will be revealed to the audience at the end of the play,” Lahkar said.

He was, however, not very keen to reveal the technique they will use to “shorten” Bora’s height.

An in-house technical expert in Kohinoor said, “We will be using different methods for different scenes. Lighting will play an important part, as will other props like wooden planks with holes. Bora’s clothes will be designed in such a manner so as to give the impression that he is only two feet tall. And then we will have our Mumbai expert attend to the finer touches”.

The theatre group, one of the oldest in the state, had earlier sunk the Titanic on stage, a feat that won the accolades of Hollywood technical wizards.

“With Jatin Bora as a dwarf, we are sure to set a new benchmark for stagecraft. That’s what mobile theatre is all about,” Lahkar said. Special lighting equipment will also be brought for play.

The actor himself admitted to being a “little nervous” over his latest role. “But for actors, it is a challenge and I hope to give it my best,” he said.

Bora’s love interest in the play will be film actress Barsha Rani Bishoya, who will play the role of a “normal girl”.

The play will premiere on August 10 at Pathsala, after which it will be staged across the state for the whole 2007-08 season.