Hindi
MayaSabha teaser drops, Tumbbad director returns with new mind-bender
MUMBAI: Mystery is back on the menu and Rahi Anil Barve is serving it with a twist sharp enough to cut through the fog of Indian cinema.
The Tumbbad director has unveiled the first motion teaser of his long-awaited second film, MayaSabha, ahead of its theatrical release on 16 January 2026.
The teaser marks the beginning of a new chapter in Indian storytelling, signalling Barve’s return after nearly a decade of experimentation, rebuilding and relentless creative chiselling. But Barve is clear: MayaSabha is not Tumbbad, and it’s not like anything audiences have seen before.
At the heart of MayaSabha lies an unusual narrative engine. The film places its viewers and its four central characters at the starting line of the same treasure hunt but the paths soon diverge. As the story progresses, the shocks that strike the characters come from the dangers they uncover within the plot, while the audience is blindsided by revelations the characters themselves can never perceive. Yet Barve ensures the emotional tether remains unbroken; viewers may see more, but they still feel alongside them.
The most radical choice, however, is saved for the climax, where Barve breaks almost every established rule of the mystery-thriller form, opting for an ending that is bold, unconventional and, by his own admission, risky.
Known for the atmospheric, textured world-building of Tumbbad, Barve once again leans into myth, philosophy and psychological unease. MayaSabha, he says, “promises a journey into guarded truths and power structures far more dangerous than they appear at first glance. The film steps boldly into territory where symbolism meets suspense, and where silence reveals more than dialogue.”
Produced by Zirkon Films, with Girish Patel and Ankoor J. Singh at the helm, and co-producers Shamrao Bhagwan Yadav, Chanda Shamrao Yadav, Kewal Handa and Manish Handa, MayaSabha stands poised to be one of 2026’s most enigmatic cinematic offerings.
Hindi
Remembering Gyan Sahay, the lens behind film, television and advertising
From a puppet rabbit selling poppadums to Hindi cinema, he framed it all.
MUMBAI: There are careers, and then there are canvases. Gyan Sahay, the veteran cinematographer, director, and producer who passed away on 10 March 2026 in Mumbai, had one of the latter. Over several decades in the Indian film and television industry, he turned lenses, lights, and the occasional puppet rabbit into something approaching art.
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, Sahay built his reputation as a director of photography across a career that stretched from the early 1970s all the way to the digital age. He was the kind of craftsman who understood that a well-composed shot is not merely a technical achievement but a quiet act of storytelling.
For most Indians of a certain age, however, Sahay will forever be the man behind the rabbit. His direction of the iconic long-running television commercial for Lijjat Papad, featuring its now-legendary puppet bunny, gave the country one of its most cheerfully persistent advertising images. It was the sort of work that sneaks into the national subconscious and takes up permanent residence.
His big-screen credits as cinematographer include Anokhi Pehchan (1972), Pagli (1974), Pas de Deux (1981), and Hum Farishte Nahin (1988). In 1999, he stepped behind a different kind of camera altogether, making his directorial debut with Sar Ankhon Par, a drama that featured Vikas Bhalla and Shruti Ulfat, with a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan for good measure.
On television, Sahay was particularly prized for his command of multi-camera production setups, a skill that made him a go-to technician for large-scale shows and reality programmes. In an industry that has never been especially patient with complexity, he was the calm hand on the rig.
In later life, Sahay turned teacher. He participated regularly in masterclasses and Digi-Talks, often hosted by organisations such as Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna, sharing hard-won wisdom on cinematography, the comedy of timing in a shot, and the sweeping changes brought by the shift from celluloid to digital. He was also said to have been involved in a project concerning a biographical film on Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.
Tributes from the film industry poured in following the news of his passing, with colleagues remembering him as a senior cameraman who served as a rare bridge between two entirely different eras of Indian cinema. That is, perhaps, the finest thing one can say of any craftsman: he kept up, and he brought others along with him.
