Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan share stage space for a dance number; (below) Ram Gopal Varma

The Sippys may be trying every rule in the book to stall Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay, but the maverick maker is just going from strength to strength. And how! After deciding on his Basanti and Radha (Nisha Kothari and Sushmita Sen as Ghungroo and Devi) Ram Gopal Varma has now got Abhishek Bachchan to groove to Mehbooba mehbooba!

“Abhishek volunteered to be part of the song,” Varma told Metro from the sets of Sholay in Mumbai. Earlier, Chhota B was slated to do the role of Veeru (played by Dharmendra in the Ramesh Sippy classic) but “dates” got the better of the casting coup and Ajay Devgan was finally signed and sealed. But now Abhishek will be singing Mehbooba mehbooba on screen, a cameo done by Jalal Agha in the 1975 film.

Urmila Matondkar, of course, will be slipping into Helen’s shoes and dancing to the song. Mehbooba mehbooba itself has gone through the controversy grind. Initially, Himesh Reshammiya was slated to sing it and even do the Jalal Agha bit but he wanted to be a filmstar — and not an item boy — and excused himself from the prized assignment. The role then went to choreographer-musician Ganesh Hegde.

The voices, too, changed chords. When Himesh was to do the song, Asha Bhonsle was singing it with him. When Hegde stepped in, Sukhvinder Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan bagged the chartbuster.

“Abhishek just happened to hear the track by Ganesh Hegde and loved it immensely,” added Varma. “He was so excited to be a part of it.”

As in the original film, Amitabh Bachchan as Gabbar Singh will sit and lord it over Mehbooba mehbooba as Abhishek and Urmila do the moving and shaking to Hegde’s steps. This is, of course, not the first time that Amitabh and Abhishek will be part of a song on screen. While Bunty Aur Babli’s Kajra re has already entered filmi folklore, even Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’s Rock ’n’ roll soniye is very popular.

But Mehbooba mehbooba will be even more special, promised Varma. “The primary difference between the other Amitabh and Abhishek songs and this one is while in Kajra re and KANK, they were interacting with each other so much, here they might not even look at each other (with Amitabh’s eyes feasting on Urmila),” he elaborated.

Varma is doing all he can to make Mehbooba mehbooba a visual treat. “The look of the characters and the backdrop are yet to be finalised,” is the official word, but sources confirmed that he has zeroed in on the location. “Mr Varma went to Dubai and Australia and checked out the belly dancers there but wasn’t too impressed,” a source revealed. “He is probably planning to shoot the song in Morocco.”