After the gloriously atmospheric reckoning in Tumbbad, aestheticising a local myth into a circular tale of capitalistic greed, director Rahi Anil Barve returns to another moody, whimsical world with a bag of gold at the center. His second directorial, Mayasabha is not as vast in its world building. The magnificent ruins in the rain soaked Sahyadri in Tumbbad give way to a dilapidated, megalomaniac theatre in Mayasabha. Unfolding in a single location over the course of a night, the film has been conceived unconventionally. Rahi feels that it was made with empathy and not ego.
“Mayasabha was not made with a thought that I want to do something different. It was only when I wrote it that I felt it was different. The film was stretching away from all boundaries. The question then remained whether to do it or not. I decided to take the plunge and that’s how it started,” says the filmmaker.
Rahi Anil Barve during the shoot of ‘Mayasabha’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The distinctness extends even to the casting. Carrying the weight of being a flamboyant dancer and a versatile comedian, Javed Jaaferi enters new territory with Mayasabha as he plays an eccentric producer, Parmeshwar Khanna hunting for treasure in the ruins of the theatre with his son. Interestingly, the actor heard the story of the film even before Tumbbad had released. Javed had only seen a short film, Manjha, that the director had made in 2008.
“I read the script of Mayasabha and really liked it. Then when I met Rahi, I loved the vision he had for the film. He was like an obsessed filmmaker. I was grateful to him for the role especially because few people imagine me to play such parts. It was a role any other A-list actor would have easily said yes to. But Rahi was clear in his reasons of wanting me in it” says Javed.
For Rahi, casting the right actor for the titular role held immense value as he describes Mayasabha as a “character oriented” film as opposed to Tumbbad, which focused more on the story. “Along with the character of Parmeshwar Khanna, I also wanted the actor playing him to shock audiences. I wanted them to be surprised seeing Javed sir,” says Rahi, praising Javed for bringing unusual intensity to the role. “He is one of the best serious actors. I feel that only 5 percent of his talent has been used,” he adds.
Apart from the numerous sketchy, over-the-top comic characters he has played over the years, Javed has got fewer chances to explore his other side, seen briefly in Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India! (1995), Shaurya (2008) and Fire (1996). Rahi was struck with the restrained performance of Javed in the seminal Deepa Mehta film.
Javed Jaaferi along with other actors during the shoot
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“Back then, Rahi’s reference points were quite few. That’s why I give him a lot of respect and credit because as a director, you can’t just see what is the most obvious. You have to look beyond. Like Jim Carrey is a crazy guy but there lies a serious actor in him, which we see in Truman Show and other films,” says Javed.
For Mayasabha, the actor was stationed in a hotel near the shoot location in Mumbai’s Chembur for close to 22 days. The proximity to the theatre helped him stay in the mood of the film. “It was the most physically arduous shoot of my career apart from also being emotionally demanding. Smoke is an important element in the film and to work amidst that was a challenge considering all the allergies and asthmatic problems that I have,” says Javed.
Rahi pitches in and calls the film his “riskiest” on multiple levels, starting with its minimalistic design. “Even though Mayasabha is the smallest film I have made till now, it was actually the most difficult. We shot for over 17 hours in a day. If there was a studio backing the film, we wouldn’t be allowed to work the way we did. It was madness,” says Rahi as he recounts the initial pitches.
“Studios have a cliched way of looking at a project. They immediately want to format it to a genre. It is difficult to do that with Mayasabha. They couldn’t tell if it is a Shakespearean tragedy, a mystery or a thriller. Along with that, hearing some of the ideas they would throw at the story, I realised the trapping. This way, I would have made the film with a decent budget and marketing, but it wouldn’t be the same,” says Rahi.
Mayasabha was one of the three projects that the filmmaker was working on after Tumbbad. The other two were, Rakt Brahmand: The Bloody Kingdom and Gulkanda Tales. Through all the stories, Rahi’s focus has been to create immersive experiences. “I cannot tell stories without building the world in detail. I wish people could see what we have done in Gulkanda Tales. It is an entirely different world,” he says. There is a faint helplessness in his voice as he speaks about the unreleased project, stuck in release limbo to this day with Prime Video.
“I worked on Gulkanda Tales for five years after Tumbbad. Everyone asks me what I did all these years. That’s what I did. The show was ready in 2023 and unfortunately has been stuck ever since due to all the reasons,” he takes a pause and says, “Even Sacred Games won’t see the light of the day in today’s times.”
Published – January 27, 2026 03:41 pm IST
