Aadhi Pinisetty; Chaitanya Rao in Mayasabha 
Interviews

Mayasabha Team Interview: “The days of word-of-mouth impact are gone”

Chaitanya Rao and Aadhi Pinisetty talk about their upcoming series Mayasabha, how the show’s writing make their job easier, their priorities as actors, and more

BH Harsh

The makers of Mayasabha, the upcoming series on SonyLiv directed by Deva Katta, have huge plans for their project. While the first season will begin streaming on Thursday, the makers already have plans for two more seasons, covering the 35-year journey of its two protagonists. Reminiscing on the herculean script session, actor Aadhi Pinisetty says, “Deva Katta sir and I had an 8-hour narration. We thought of stopping at 4, but the script was so interesting that I didn’t want to disrupt the flow. Mayasabha has so many characters, and so many layers, including friendship, and politics. I haven’t done something like this ever.”

The onboarding experience for Chaitanya Rao Madadi was slightly different. The Keedaa Cola actor recalls auditioning for the role, and being unsure for a while. He elaborates, “I was lean then, so the physical transformation was a huge challenge. So I told Deva Katta I will audition after a week.” It took an elaborate photo shoot, in the character look, before both Chaitanya and Deva felt confident about the former being perfect for the role. “Up until then, even I had my doubts about whether I could do justice to the part.”

By the looks of it, the two protagonists of Mayasabha seem strongly inspired by the lives of Chandrababu Naidu and YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Aadhi Pinisetty tells me, “That’s not something we discussed though. I basically understood how Deva sir is looking at this character, where he comes from, his honesty and dreams, and how much he loves empowering people. It all boils down to good writing. If something is well written, that makes an actor’s job easier.”  

Chaitanya Rao too talks about how every detail about his role was penned down in the script. “Be it his walking style, the way he expresses his anger or satisfaction, or his strengths and weaknesses, we had the complete arc of my part on paper. I just had to absorb and deliver it.” When I ask Chaitanya if such an approach leaves smaller room for improvisations, something he did with Tharun Bhascker on Keedaa Cola, Chaitanya says, “I know this character for a year, but Deva sir has been living it for 8 years. So it’s better to listen to him, also considering this is a powerful character and there is a huge scope of people drawing parallels with reality. So we had to be very careful about improvisations.”

Aadhi has been active for nearly 20 years now, and very choosy in his projects. While his fans expected him to be more visible post the success of films like Rangasthalam and Sarrainodu, Aadhi clarifies that he has never been a ‘full-paced actor.’ He adds, “That’s how I have been functioning from day 1. I will always take my time to choose something interesting. When a project works, obviously offers increase, especially from big banners. But when I choose a film, I do it based on a few factors, and that won’t change.” The Rangasthalam actor also states that he has rejected many interesting roles  because they were similar to roles he had done before.

What’s a bigger priority for Aadhi, he states, is association with credible names. “I want to work with great filmmakers and be a part of their writing. They are the real heroes. When you collaborate with them, you explore new dimensions to your craft, and your job automatically becomes more interesting.”

Like Aadhi, Chaitanya too is wary of being stereotyped, and his next few projects — a love story set against an engineering backdrop and a survival drama that largely unfolds with him stuck in a container — are testament to that. Chaitanya says, “As long as I feel my character will make an impact, I am game for it. Like my character in AIR - All India Rankers arrives in episode 5, but the whole emotional tone of the show changes with his entry.”

The subject veers to one of his upcoming films, Ghaati, the Anushka Shetty starrer where Chaitanya plays the antagonist. He sounds extremely excited while talking about the film, adding, “Ghaati is that one film that I am confident will be a mad blockbuster. It’s got a stellar cast, and Anushka ma’am is mind-blowing. This is going to be her big comeback film.” Chaitanya also praises director Krish Jagarlamudi for the way he handles actors. “Krish sir makes it so easy for you. Also, he treats everyone like a star. After Ghaati, you want that star treatment in every film,” Chaitanya adds with a hearty laugh. 

Even as he believes that the space for actors like him has evolved in Telugu cinema, Chaitanya states that the industry is struggling with marketing its projects. He explains, “If a producer is spending 3 crores on a film, at least 70 lakhs should go towards promotions; otherwise, even a good film won’t be visible. The days of word-of-mouth impact are gone. Everyone has phones now, busy watching reels. You have to keep telling them that a film is good, for them to be curious to come to theaters.” 

While it boasts of a massive ensemble cast — Sai Kumar, Nasser, Ravindra Vijay, and Divya Dutta — and comes from an acclaimed filmmaker like Deva Katta, Mayasabha promises to explore a layered narrative about politics and friendship, with a story spanning over 30 years, something that would be hard to capture in a feature film. Aadhi believes that the target audiences for theatrical films and OTT are vastly different. He elaborates, “On OTT, you can explore deep or intellectual ideas, with slightly more complicated screenplays where everything need not be in-your-face.” At the same time, he asserts why a show like Mayasabha will appeal to what he labels as ‘C-center audience.’ “This show has politics, so it will draw interest from a wider audience group. A well-made film can also be commercial, given the idea is commercial. I believe Mayasabha will also work in the Hindi belt, because the story is appealing.”

Meanwhile, Chaitanya strongly believes the OTT landscape in the Telugu industry will change in 3-4 years, bringing in big names for long-form content. “Look at SonyLiv and shows like Scam, The Hunt and Rocket Boys. What can’t be told in cinema can be told in a grand way on OTT. That’s a win-win for makers and OTT at once,” he concludes.

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