INTERVIEW | Rahi Anil Barve On Mayasabha: 'There Was No Safety Net, No Money, And No Guarantee It Would Ever Release'
In an ETV Bharat interview, Rahi Anil Barve shares harsh realities of filmmaking, where even years of hard work can end without release.
By Seema Sinha
Published : January 31, 2026 at 5:32 PM IST
Writer-director Rahi Anil Barve’s journey in filmmaking is a tale of extreme persistence, marked by long delays, immense creative dedication, and battles for artistic ownership. The 2018 folk-horror moral fable and acclaimed debut Tumbbad took over a decade to complete, involving massive, meticulous storyboarding (700 pages), multiple rewrites, and several production shifts. Post-Tumbbad, Barve has faced significant challenges as several of his projects got stuck at various levels of production. The list includes Mayasabha Gulkanda Tales and Rakt Brahmand: The Bloody Kingdom, with Mayasabha famously facing severe, near-stalling risks.
Despite these struggles, Barve's commitment to creating unique, high-quality, and deeply immersive worlds, such as the one in Mayasabha, has established him as a distinctive voice in Indian cinema. He succeeded in his struggle to bring the ambitious project, his second directorial, to fruition in a risk-averse industry. Mayasabha is not as vast as Tumbbad in its world building. The magnificent ruins in the rain soaked Sahyadri in Tumbbad give way to a dilapidated, megalomaniac theatre in Mayasabha. The setup is that of a house of fading dreams and celluloid.
The story centers on Parmeshwar Khanna (played by Jaaved Jaaferi), once a grand producer and exhibitor, who now haunts a mansion that formerly housed the legendary Mayasabha theatre. Unfolding in a single location, driven by four characters in a decrepit theatre full of kerosene and dust, over the course of a night, the film, based on a story from a chapter in Barve's book Aadimayeche, hit theatres on January 30.
Excerpts from the interview
Can you tell us the origins of Mayasabha?
It came from a gap. After Tumbbad, before starting Gulkanda Tales, which needed a massive scale. I wanted to make something small, fast, and honest.
What was the thought behind Mayasabha?
To train myself by restricting everything—characters, location, scale—completely opposite of Tumbbad. It was a dream of making a near zero-budget film. You learn faster that way.
The casting, too, is very distinct. Why did you choose Jaaved Jaaferi?
Because his real talent has been wasted for years. Maybe five to six per cent has been used in the last four decades. I needed someone dangerous and humane at the same time. Jaaved has that. Most people haven’t seen it.
So you feel his talent hasn’t been exploited completely?
Yes. Mayasabha is just a glimpse.
You have called Mayasabha your smallest and riskiest film. Why?
There was no safety net. No money, no cushion, no guarantee it would ever release. It survived because we refused to abandon it.
What’s happening with Gulkanda Tales (an eight-episode period sex comedy produced by filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK for Amazon Prime Video starring Kunal Kemmu, Pankaj Tripathi, and Patralekha)?
It was finished in 2023, it’s a beautiful show. More than ₹100 crore invested. For me, it’s my best work so far—I spent five years on it after Tumbbad. I gave everything. It’s been ready for a long time. Releasing it now is another battle, mostly because the climate changed. That’s all I’ll say.
Your directorial and Netflix India’s touted to be first ever “mega action-fantasy series” Rakt Brahmand: The Bloody Kingdom is rumoured to be shelved? (Starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Ali Fazal and Wamiqa Gabbi, announced in February 2025).
No comments for now.
You are known to focus on deep, detailed world-building, which often clashes with industry demands for quick, familiar content, leading to delays. Do you find it hard dealing with studios?
Studios aren’t the real problem. Creating something new and original is—something not tried and tested. No one wants to be responsible for failure. So, originality gets stalled. Every time you bring something original, something from scratch we face a problem. When you are sitting with these studio executives, they firmly believe they want to give what the audience wants …stars with the face value, this PR, this marketing, budget, location, songs …but anything which is truly original or experimental. If at any time I had felt that Mayasabha may not work, I wouldn’t do it. If something doesn’t touch you on a human basis or your instincts, I wouldn’t waste time on such a project.
What are the updates on Pahadpangira and Pakshitirtha? (the highly anticipated second and third installments in a dark fantasy/horror trilogy conceived by Barve)
Pahadpangira is alive, ready to go on the floor. We are trimming the budget from Rs 60 to 70 crores, coordinating actor dates ...Hopefully I’ll finish the shoot by the end of the year. It needs the right scale and time. Pakshitirtha will wait.
Do political pressures affect your work?
Sometimes, yes. But I guess that’s true for everyone.
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