They've come to see Sarfarosh, the Aamir Khan-Sonali Bendre starrer, some with their wives and children. They bring with them blankets to wrap themselves in, durries to seat themselves on. They buy cigarettes instead of the usual bundle of bidis. For them movie-watching is a celebration, relatively cheap at Rs 5 a ticket, and a get-together.

Most villagers don't own television sets, and their village doesn't have a cable network. The ``touring cinema'', as it is officially called, remains their sole means of entertainment. The talkies are basically four walls around a cinemascope screen. They run only night shows. Other specialities: on demand from audiences, they re-run scenes, exchange tickets for another screening if a show is disrupted by rain, offer concessions if a villager doesn't have enough money.

The talkies choose the movies they screen carefully. No emotional dramas or serious stuff. What people want is action, and lots of it. Mithun Chakraborty and Sunil Shetty spell profits.

However, audiences are dwindling. The cable craze in the hinterlands of the Central Gujarat may or may not usher the much-sought after awareness among the rural folk, but it is going to snatch away their touring cinemas. With this go platforms for the gatherings of innocent villagers who may have to remain glued to their personal or neighbour's TV sets.

Central Gujarat had till last year at least 12 touring cinemas flourishing in a couple of bigger villages in Vadodara, Bharuch and Panchmahals districts. Only three exist as of today. Others have either already closed shop and others show a film or two in months. Cable networks have turned the tables on them.

According to Bharuch district collector B B Swain these cinemas are fading out. ``There used to be two such talkies in the Jambusar taluka since years, while there is only one today in the Gajera village, which seldom runs,'' he says.

The collectors of Godhra and Vadodara, A.K. Rakesh and Anil Mukim, agree that the talkies are dying out. In Godhra three of the five talkies have wound up. In Vadodara only two remain. Entertainment commissioner C.L. Meena says their death is certain despite the government relaxing entertainment tax norms.

Villages like Vadoo, Mual and Kanjhat in this district are now getting used to video. `Touring cinema' owners complain how times have robbed them of their flourishing business. Says Salim Memon, who runs the talkies in Vadoo, ``We would hire a film for Rs 7,000 or so, and some 300-500 people would turn up to watch one screening. Now, the film rent has gone up, the audience has vanished.''

Mahendra Patel and Mukesh Parmar, who run talkies in Mual and Kanjhat, say even the cost of electricity and carbon rods have gone up, making the business unviable.

Patel has shut shop for the time being, after a screening of Hindustan Ki Kasam. This is the first time he has had to do so in seven years.

Memon says the Sarfarosh screenings may go on for a day or too, not more.

What's next? ``Well, I don't know,'' he says.