Maya Memsaab

An ingenious but not entirely successful translation of Flaubert's classic novel to contemporary India. A nice idea, but it doesn't capture much of the sense of the original. Maya is shown as fey rather than bored and it's difficult to see this Madame Bovary as a doomed temptress. If you've read the original and are prepared to stick with it, it's not bad, but it's definitely on the slow side and on the whole you wonder why they bothered.

I did not! But that does not at all make the movie bad. The start is wonderful, the scenes of poetic romance etc. are mesmerising. Photography overall is also great. But there is more to who killed Maya.

The story goes on as Maya dies and detectives try to unfold how that happens. It turns out that she had a husband and many lovers. The interesting bit is she wanted love, period. She wanted real love, a love that does not see anything else than love, it is pure, serene. She saw her husband put practicality in front of love and got disillusioned from him, tried many other lovers but all were real people, with real, natural earthly issues, they couldn't give her unconditional love.

I don't know what to say next, you have to see the movie and feel, but if you get an answer to what exactly the director's saying do let me know as well. But its surely one of those movies, which one doesn't understand as to what happened, but feels good about, in the end.

I had to laugh when I saw this in the adult section of a movie catalog. It is definitely an older movie. The soundtrack isn't very good, and can be rather slow, but that's not the selling point. There are two bed scenes with Shahrukh Khan in them. KANK is the only other movie that has a bed scene in it. Maya is about tormented soul who can't seem to say no to the men who enter her life and will give her the attention she craves for their own benefits in return. Shahrukh Khan's character is the most interesting in the movie. He's very young in the film, and his youthfulness shows. He makes the film what it is. Without his character, the film wouldn't be anything. It's worth watching once. He's very creative in an uncreative set. My favorite scene is when his character is playing with Maya in the wet snow. He makes the unbelievable believable.

Are U impatient ? Got a deadline to meet ? Got a train 2 catch ? well then steer clear ! AVOID this one like plague !

Maya Memsaab is a rather slow inferno of a woman of many desires which certainly can't be fulfilled by one man. It makes interesting viewing for those of us who have some time to kill and don't mind killing it by titillating ourselves with a raunchy movie !!

I'd give it a 6 on 10 for the natural performances and the sexually stimulating theme ! And heyy !! There are some lovely songs too.

I saw MAYA MEMSAAB some two years after I read the book it is based upon. Gustave Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary'. The English translation of it from Bantam Classics. I had heard about MAYA MEMSAAB a long time back, sometime around when it was released. That was in 1992 or 1993. I was very young then. 10 years old. So technically I couldn't see a film like MAYA MEMSAAB, nor read a book like 'Madame Bovary', classic or whatever.

Though I couldn't see MAYA MEMSAAB, the film intrigued me a lot. Whatever I learnt about it from the media was enough to stir me. There was Shah Rukh Khan, a rising star. There was Deepa Sahi, who I had seen in her husband Ketan Mehta's earlier film 'Hero Hiralal'. I didn't quite understand what role she played. She was this mysterious woman who wore this huge cape and wielded a Mandarake-like wand. But that intrigued me. And I was like – What is MAYA MEMSAAB What is MAYA MEMSAAB? I saw a scene from this film on the weekly news-show 'The World This Week' on Doordarshan. It was a time when satellite channels had not invaded India and Doordarshan was the only TV channel and Prannoy Roy-hosted 'The World This Week' was the only English-language news-show in the country and all thanks to 'The World This Week' I came to know of brands like Gillette, Cathay Pacific and Van Heusen. Next, I read about it in the Sunday magazine of The Telegraph newspaper. Deepa Sahi wearing a white salwar-kameez, lying on a bed of rose petals. Wow! I was just waiting to grow up so that I could see MAYA MEMSAAB or at least read 'Madame Bovary'.

I read 'Madame Bovary'. When I turned twenty. It is one of the best books I've read so far. I liked its honesty. Its openness. I liked how this book calls a spade a spade without beating around the bush. And I liked its ending. It is very sad. Emma dies, her father dies, Charles dies, and Emma's little daughter is sent to work in a factory. A very suitable ending. Sad – for one couldn't help feeling sorry for the little child – yet, justified.

I saw MAYA MEMSAAB and found out that it is a very fantastic version of a sad book. Though it is fantastic, with some magical elements thrown in – hence, the name 'Maya', I guess – it, in some places, retains the darkness of the novel. There is this questioning feeling. What happened? What was supposed to happen? Sort of.

The acting is good. I liked Deepa Sahi. I liked Paresh Rawal. But I didn't like SRK at all. He looks like a fool. And I liked Farooque Sheikh in places.

The cinematography is nice. It brings out the fantasy element very well. The chemist's lab, the houses are very well done.

And I loved the songs. Just loved them. "Ek Haseen Nigaah Ka Dil Pe Saaya Hai", "O Dil Banjaaray", and "Yeh Shehar Bada Purana Hai" are songs I am constantly listening to on my mobile phone and laptop. Plus, there is this song-like conversation between Deepa Sahi and Farooque Sheikh. I don't have it and I couldn't find it anywhere. So, through my comment, I'd like to ask the readers if they could help me find this song. MAYA MEMSAAB is a nice movie. Well-made, aesthetic, with a hint of sophistication. Quite art-house.