Seated at a spacious studio, Salim and Sulaiman Merchant are weaving for us a tale that is set to open for theatre-going audiences on March 27, through 29. The months that they have spent breathing life into the Broadway adaptation of Disco Dancer hasn't diminished their fever. It is palpable in the twinkle in their eyes as they discuss "adding a dramatic ma-beta angle", employing lavish LED sets to depict "Bombay of the '80s", and "lowering of two telephone booths for a scene."

As they discuss Saregama Carvaan's adaptation of Mithun Chakraborty's 1982 musical for the stage, which follows the composer duo's successful Umrao Jaan, it is evident that they've emerged from being musicians to story-tellers. "The hardest part about a musical is the casting," says Salim, adding, "In India, finding someone who can sing, dance, and act, is a big challenge. While people may excel in one or two [skills], it's tough to find those who are good at all three. And we need to find at least five of them." The journey to merely zeroing in on the lead actors took them seven months, reveals Sulaiman. "Our country is not geared [to creating] a sampoorna kalakar, or true performer. Our aim was to find a good singer. That's the toughest part, since all the singing is done live. We identified singers who are good-looking, and then sent them to acting class." The unit roped in to feature in the production is currently on a fitness programme designed to build endurance, and hence, enable them to sing appropriately, without struggling for breath in the midst of dancing stints.