Rs 33,000, an iPhone, and AI: How Tumbbad director Rahi Anil Barve made an 80-minute experimental film on a home PC

Tumbbad director Rahi Anil Barve has pulled off something unusual at a time when film budgets keep soaring — he has made an entire movie for just Rs 33,000.

Sharing the update on social media, Barve revealed that the project was created using a mix of iPhone-shot performance footage, a 60-page screenplay, hand-drawn storyboards, Photoshop, generative AI tools and After Effects.

Titled MANN-PISHACH, the 80-minute experimental film was built entirely on a home PC.


“Do share. For every broke, struggling, passionate filmmaker dreaming of making a zero-budget film: MANN-PISHACH is an 80-minute experimental film built on a home PC. Two actors — Yaaneea Bhardwaj and Deepak Damle — iPhone performance footage, a 60-page screenplay, hand-drawn storyboards, Photoshop, generative AI and After Effects. Total cost: Rs 33,000. If this helps even one filmmaker create something from nothing, the experiment was worth it,” he wrote on X.



Barve is best known for Tumbbad, a film that has grown into a cult favourite for its originality and storytelling. Set in a Maharashtra village, it followed Vinayak Rao’s descent into greed as he hunts a mythical treasure guarded by the sinister entity Hastar.

Although Tumbbad underperformed at the box office during its 2018 release, its 2024 re-release saw a strong audience response, with the film crossing Rs 50 crore. The renewed success has already sparked talks of a sequel.

Barve’s second film, Mayasabha – The Hall of Illusion (2025), is a psychological thriller and marks his follow-up to Tumbbad.

Notably, the movie came amid rise in AI video generation model like Seedance that claims to create films for a fraction of budget with cast that look like real persons.