When most people were coming out of the theatres singed by a disaster called Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag the weekend the film released, I did the more intelligent thing. I delved into my DVD collection and decided to watch Sholay all over again, for the nth time, scene by scene, dialogue by dialogue. And I came to the conclusion that, much like the Tintin and Asterix comics one loves to read over and over again for the sheer joy of the situations and the puns, Sholay has that everlasting quality about it. So, even if you know exactly when Gabbar Singh will ask his henchmen when Holi is, or how the chilling sound of the empty swing will add to the terror of the scene when Gabbar returns to annihilate Thakur?s entire family, you will still be transfixed, on the edge of your seat, watching intently as the 1975 classic unfolds.

That, in essence, is Sholay. A timeless piece of movie-making, right up there with the best in the world, despite its obvious commercial nature and borrowed theme.

So, when Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) signed a deal ? estimated at about $100 million ? with the Sippys, for the rights of the film, and announced it would come up with a remake, a prequel, a sequel and an animated version, it was a brave move. Made braver, doubtlessly, because of the huge hole RGV Ki Aag had burnt in the pockets of distributors all over. While personally I am still to decide either way on the raging debate over whether classics like Sholay need to be remade at all, Nandy, in an interview to this paper, said he believes classics need to be retold in the language of the times. Perhaps he has a point. And if, indeed, his point is correct, who are the candidates who can be considered talented ? or brave ?enough to remake Sholay in 2007-08, in the language of modern-day cinema, and in a manner that makes the theme relevant even now?

Here are some candidates ? purely a random personal list ? of those filmmakers whose talent and craft, I think, make them worthy of being named directors of the new Sholay.

Farhan Akhtar

Akhtar?s version of another cult classic, Don, is one reason I still cannot fully endorse the view that classics should not be remade. When Akhtar bravely decided to remake the Amitabh Bachchan film an entire generation has grown up enjoying and singing songs of, it was a gamble many thought would backfire badly on the director who had burst into the Indian moviemaking scene with the trendsetting Dil Chahta Hai. But Akhtar gave the film its own language, its own twists and turns, and in the end created a very different film from the original. Eventually, it was a kind of ? though one hates to use the term ? remixed version of the ?70s film, but with a new-generation look and feel and relevance. Add to that the sheer smooth villainy of Shah Rukh Khan (yes, he did act well) and some really cool music, and Akhtar created a Don which appealed to the present generation. Akhtar, therefore, qualifies as a frontrunner to remake Sholay because of the pure passion he brings to his craft (the car chase sequences in Don are brilliantly executed and yet reminiscent of the best of the 70s) and the fact that, probably because he is Javed Akhtar?s son, he understands best how to translate his father?s idea into a new-generation language.

Vishal Bhardwaj

One of the most talented directors in modern Indian cinema, Bhardwaj can swing effortlessly from the slick to the rustic, the simple to the intensely complex. Whether it is the antics of Chunni in the delightful children?s film Makdee or the intensity of the forbidden love Maqbool, an underworld henchman, has for his boss?s wife Nimmi in Maqbool ? the brilliant adaptation of Macbeth to Mumbai?s dark underbelly ? or his version of Othello set in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh, Omkara, Bhardwaj is a master craftsman and an expert at moulding stories to give it his own distinct shape. If Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah were the modernday version of the witches in Macbeth, one would hardly be surprised if Bhardwaj thinks up a dramatic and refreshing new twist to Gabbar Singh for the present day and age. For someone who?s adapted Shakespeare and made it relevant to the modern-day Indian context twice over, remaking Sholay may, in fact, be a lesser

challenge.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Okay, so Bhansali?s Devdas was far from Bengali, spoke in a weird non-Bangla accent (the ?Kaymone achho Paro?? line was wholly unnecessary) and the ambience was more Shah than Saratchandra. But yet, Bhansali?s Devdas struck a chord somewhere. If only for the lavishly mounted scale, the brilliant music by Ismail Darbar and the sheer universality of the theme. Bhansali knows his craft, and he knows the value of scale and the art of telling a story. He has exhibited it time and again, whether it is the immensely poignant Khamoshi, the intense but entertaining Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or the dark yet passionate Black. Attributes which the director of the new Sholay simply must possess. Add to that his madness and his passion for the movies, and you just may have a Ramesh Sippy redux.

Subhash Ghai

Surprised at this inclusion? Don?t be. Think Karz, think Vidhaata, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar. Ghai is a man who thinks big. His movies are always mounted on a lavish scale, and his 70mm vision of any story worth telling does tend to leave a lasting impact on the audience. Yes, of late, Ghai, known for his Hitchcockian blink-and-you-miss appearances in his own films, has lost his touch and is busy with his company and his film school, but for diehard Ghai fans, he would still be a very good bet to remake the Sippy classic on 2008 widescreen. If PNC wants to get a bit adventurous, Ghai?s their man.

Feroz Khan

The king of panache, you can?t ever write off Feroz Khan. A style icon in his own right, Khan has always been a trendsetter. From racing cars to horses to motorbikes and foreign locales, Khan has been a director well ahead of his time. An entire generation has grown up watching the immensely good-looking actor-director romance the best heroines, from Mumtaz to Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman. The man who gave Indian cinema films like Apradh, Qurbani, Jaanbaaz and Yalgaar and who brought Nazia Hassan to India can always be trusted to come up with something new. Khan?s already been associated with a PNC film, Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina. Pritish Nandy says he doesn?t even rule out having a ?Mr Gabbar Singh? in an Armani suit in his new Sholay. If that?s an option, the director who is also India?s first cowboy hero surely qualifies to wield the megaphone. Only one condition: he shouldn?t be allowed to keep the best role for himself.

There are some others who just about missed making it to this shortlist. There?s JP Dutta, he of the desert sagas and of such immensely watchable films like Batwaara, Ghulami, Hathyar, Kshatriya and Border. Let?s not just go by Umrao Jaan which clearly wasn?t his pet genre. Then there?s Raj Kumar Hirani of the Munnabhai series, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Rakesh Roshan and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. All these directors have the vision, scale and the talent to make a good film, tell a great story.

No prizes, however, for guessing the name which is not going to be on any shortlist for making another Sholay. Yes, his initials are RGV.