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 makes their job easier, their priorities as actors, and more

- Chaitanya Rao and Aadhi Pinisetty

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 pm, 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. He admits, "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 says, "That's not something we discussed though. I basically under-