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Star Cast: Jaaved Jafferi, Veena Jamkar, Deepak Damle, Mohammed Samad
Director: Rahi Anil Barve
What’s Good: The core plot and twist
What’s Bad: The illogical and boring bits
Loo Break: If you feel weary, fatigued, or sleepy, certainly
Watch or Not?: Strictly up to you
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 104 Minutes
User Rating:
Parmeshwar Khanna (Jaaved Jafferi) is a once-top filmmaker gone to seed, reportedly after his wife, actress Jaymala (not shown in the film), ran away with boyfriend Sohrab (ditto), leaving him adrift with their son, Vasu (Mohammed Samad). Parmeshwar lives as a recluse within the ruins of a movie theater, where he watches her movies endlessly, besotted by her and shattered by her betrayal. Consequently, he has a love-hate relationship with Vasu, who is now old enough to be attracted by the opposite sex and is infatuated with Zeenat (Veena Jamkar), whom he has met in one of his rare forays to the outside world. His father has closeted him in their limited world of decrepit chambers and lights, cobwebby ruins, dirty toilets, and general squalor, and more.
There is a buzz that Parmeshwar has stacked 40 kilos of gold within the property, and Vasu has decided that if he ever finds it, he will tour the world. On one fateful day, he invites his two ‘friends,’ Zeenat and Ravrana (Deepak Damle), for a meal, and it turns out that they are actually searching for the gold that Vasu has innocently blabbered to them about.
A plethora of events unfold over the next 24 hours, showcasing human greed and shrewdness, the relationship between a father and son, and, finally, a massive personal secret that Parmeshwar has never revealed to anyone. And what of the gold? Do the gold-diggers (almost literally!) get it? Does Vasu get to fulfill his dream? Does Parmeshwar outsmart the duo?
Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion Movie Review: Script Analysis
Rahi Anil Barve, the writer and director, pens a story that vindicates peak-time Subhash Ghai’s credo of “Ideas don’t make films. Scripts do!” The twist may be ingenious like James Hadley Chase storylines, but the execution is extremely and avoidably self-indulgent, the doing of a filmmaker who wishes to be different for the sake of it and is totally apathetic to not just the paying filmgoer but also those who have invested money in his story.
At 104 minutes, the only plus point is that the film is short enough not to leave you totally exasperated with the goings-on, but on the other hand, the basic illogic is incredible for such so-called “realistic” cinema.
Vasu, for example, has been closeted by his father since he was a kid. How then does he have perfectly fitting clothes, even a suit? How do father and son manage their daily chores? Who cooks for them—yes, Vasu does so now, but who taught him? How are their bills paid, especially the electricity? How do they acquire basic needs like toothpaste, vegetables, and eggs that Vasu is shown boiling… I could go on and on!! The director claims this is as much a thriller as a ‘fantasy.’ Really??? And mind you, right from David Dhawan’s movies to Anees Bazmee’s films, ‘critics’ demand logic in a true entertainer! Over here, will they be hypnotized yet again (as in multiple movies in the past) to overlook all this?
Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion Movie Review: Star Performance
The trouble with such stories is that they are usually laced with good or better performances from actors, whose roles are calculatedly etched. Jaaved Jafferi, in an image reversal, plays Parmeshwar to perfection and makes him lovably devilish. Mohammed Samad, as Vasu, is very detailed in his essay of the simpleton who loves his father to death and is crazy about him, for he is all he has in this world. Veena Jamkar, as the shrewd Zeenat (wonder why just one character is shown as a Muslim?!), is superb as the scheming vixen. And Deepak Damle as Ravrana fits the bill and delivers a nuanced performance as the partner schemer.
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Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion Movie Review: Direction, Music
Sadly, such films are appreciated, applauded, and sometimes even awarded for being ‘hatke,’ exactly as the director Rahi Anil Barve’s debut film, Tumbbad, was. It was enough to hypnotize Gen Z when re-released in 2024, the year when horror ruled the box office, and it cobbled together decent money! The Entertainment Quotient is dispensed with, with all-too-sporadic one-liners and pseudo-intellectual elements that were fodder for anonymous festivals in which (as per Barve) “discerning viewers” fall for such films.
To give Barve (not ‘Brave,’ please note!) his due, the film is shot exotically (Aasif Pathan) for the genre, and he extracts skilled work from the production designer, Preetam Rai, art director Surendra Prajapati, and background score composer Sagar Desai.
Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion Movie Review: The Last Word
Such films should be released on OTT, as normal, entertainment-seeking viewers can then be spared the exercise, effort, and expense (ticket fares!) and can watch this ‘exquisite’ excess-cise in the comforts of their homes, with remotes in hand!
Two stars!
Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion Trailer
Mayasabha: The Hall of Illusion released on 30th January, 2026.
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