Hollywood star Hugo Weaving unveils teaser of Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon's Maya

Matrix and Lord of the Rings star narrates the teaser for the MAYA Narrative Universe by Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon.

The teaser of MAYA- the new project made by filmmaker Anand Gandhi (Ship of Theseus, Tumbbad) and award-winning game designer Zain Memon (SHASN, AZADI) has been unveiled. Noted Hollywood actor Hugo Weaving, who is best known for playing Agent Smith in the first three The Matrix films (1999–2003), and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) trilogies, has narrated the teaser.

MAYA is a new work of science-fiction fantasy from the storytelling studio, Department of Lore Inc.

In his commanding voice, Hugo introduces the heart of MAYA and says, “For those who control the bard, control everything." MAYA is a new work of science-fiction fantasy from the next-generation storytelling studio, Department of Lore Inc.

Weaving’s narration of the teaser also signals a larger involvement in the ambitious transmedia project. The trailer debut comes as MAYA makes its presence felt across two continents simultaneously, with major showcases at Worldcon 2025 in Seattle and an architecture exhibition at IFBE Mumbai.

What is MAYA?

MAYA presents a sweeping science-fiction fantasy for our hyperconnected age. In this world, a network of sentient trees known as "Maya" acts as the living internet of planet Neh. Citizens "tether" daily to Maya, entering shared dreamscapes while immortal Divyas harvest data to see billions of possible futures. Everyone is tracked, everyone is "nudged" - except one person - whose freedom threatens everything. Developed over four years, MAYA unfolds across films, games, novels, graphic novels, and immersive experiences. The first upcoming product from the universe is a novel, MAYA: Book One, launching soon on Kickstarter.

Anand Gandhi said, “MAYA is the project we’ve always dreamt of making. An epic that brings together our love for ancient myths and their philosophical depth, our love for high-fantasy and its magic systems, our love for hard science-fiction that builds upon and pushes the known frontiers of science."

“We began by creating a new world. And like the Saganian apple pie, we built everything from scratch. We got geologists, biologists, linguists, architects, artists from around the globe to build this new world with us,” adds Memon.

MAYA at Worldcon 2025 and IFBE Mumbai

MAYA makes its mark at Worldcon 2025, the world's most important science fiction convention (August 13-17, Seattle), where Anand Gandhi is presenting MAYA to the global SFF community.

Concurrently, MAYA serves as the opening exhibition of The Independence Project at IFBE Mumbai (August 14-17), where Gandhi and Memon invite audiences into the expansive world for the first time ever. The multi-day exhibition features art by celebrated global concept artists. It also showcases the sprawling worlds created through visionary architect Shikha Parmar's speculative pedagogy at CEPT University, where students reimagined built environments for diverse fictional species. Visitors will also experience inventive environment design ideas from pioneering architect Vinu Daniel, and attend panel discussions featuring Sameep Padora, Vinu Daniel, Shikha Parmar, and Zain Memon.