Maya

Acclaimed director Ketan Mehta's desi adaptation of Madame Bovary completed twenty seven years this month. It was on a rainy day of 1993, July 14th to be precise, when I had ventured to a nearby theatre to catch this movie.

Mehta's wife Deepa Sahi played the titular role of Maya, a small town lady, who seeks true love and ends up having extra marital affairs only to get heartbroken in the end.

A young Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) played one of Maya's lovers and the film became quite controversial for his sex scene with Deepa Sahi. Expectedly, the Indian censors imposed several cuts which delayed the film. Moreover, the final theatrical version didnt have this much discussed scene which disappointed the audience.

Maya Memsaab had an awesome score by Hridaynath Mangeshkar with "Ek Haseen Nigah ka" and "O Dil Banjaare" topping the music charts that time. Technically, it is one of best films of those times shot in natural light in scenic locales of Simla.

Ketan Mehta's direction was competent like his earlier works (Mirch Masala and Sardar to name a few). Deepa Sahi looked beautiful as Maya and won the National award for her brilliant performance. SRK left mighty impression even in a small role. This was one of his earlier films and he was still two years away from turning superstar with 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' (1995).

Overall, Maya Memsaab was a good retelling of the classic novel Madame Bovary with some brilliant performances and outstanding music. Unfortunately, the film got bogged by the nude scene controversy and audience didn't see it the way it was intended to. Underrated classic I would say...

This movie was a journey - either perfectly paced for its themes, or incredibly slow for some of its audience

i choose the latter, the movie has not been made to be for the masses, but made to gain critical praise

Maya Memsaab is tormented by her search for non-fleeting, unconditional love, perhaps to distract her from her own lost and wandering thoughts

very universal themes made in the Indian sense, with similarities to such classics as Lekin or Rudaali, sharing the combined force of the Mangeshkar siblings and Gulzar, and now-stalwart actors when they were starting out

An art-house movie which lived up to what i had heard and expected

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.

Maya is a woman without any interests. She just dreams her life away and wonders, why she does not feel fulfilled. This could be an interesting topic. That would need a good story, a nice setting and good dialogues. It doesn't have any of these. This movie is totally boring. There are only lengths and no climaxes.The only climax is Shahrukh Khan. But although I am a huge fan of his, I couldn't stand this movie. Even he can't make this movie exiting. The movie is not as bad as "King Uncle" and if you're an Art-house fan or like it slow, you might maybe like it. It's not funny, it's not interesting, it's not catching. My recommendation: Don't watch it.

I've been watching this movie by hoping to find a pretty and interesting story yet the story line wasn't good at all. The play of the actors weren't any better.

Of course Shahrukh Khan was there yet he wasn't enough to make this movie "credible" and interesting.

I've read that this movie was based on the novel of Flaubert "Madame Bovary" yet for me I didn't see it matching with the Indian mentality.

In general we buy movie to dream and have a good time, not to waste our time and change our mood into worse. I just can't understand how it could get such a "high" vote with an average of 6.8/10.

So it's the kind of movie you should run away & ignore because there is nothing to appreciate in it! You will just waste your time unless if you like "dark movie" with "strange and non sense story".