Maya
- Director
- D.D. Kashyap
- Studio
- Light of Asia FilmsRajkumari Kashyap
- Running Time
- 157 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
Review
Dev Anand glides through *Maya* with his characteristic charm, but the film itself is a pedestrian morality play dressed up in the threadbare clothes of social conscience. The premise—wealthy boy slumming it to find authenticity and love—is tired even by 1950s standards, and director Nandlal Jaswantlal does precious little to elevate it beyond a preachy sermon. The opening sequence with servants mimicking their masters has potential satirical bite, but it's quickly abandoned in favor of melodramatic hand-wringing. Mala Sinha is pleasant enough as Shyama, but she's given nothing to do except look virtuous and poor, while the supporting cast shuffles through their roles like extras waiting for lunch.
What genuinely irritates is how the film squanders its own setup. Manmohan's crisis of conscience could've been explored with nuance—instead, we get heavy-handed lectures about privilege and responsibility. The romantic chemistry between the leads is serviceable but uninspired, and the climactic revelations feel obligatory rather than earned. Jaswantlal's direction is competent but uninspired, treating every scene with the same plodding earnestness. The music by S.D. Burman is the film's one saving grace—it occasionally soars where the narrative limps. But a good song or two can't salvage a film that mistakes sentimentality for depth and lecturing for storytelling.
Rating: 4/10
Storyline
A wealthy young man, Manmohan (Dev Anand) strikes to his own to see how the rest of the world lives. He pretends to be poor, goes to live in a community of poor people, and falls in love with a poor girl, Shyama (Mala Sinha), who doesn't realise he's a wealthy man. Maya gets off to a running start: we see a liveried servant Garibu (Sunder) hosting a dinner party for a bunch of other similarly clad servants. This is in the absence of all their masters. The 'host' of this party is servant to Seth, Ram Narain (Mubarak). Seth Ram Narain isn't in town right now, and his only son, Manmohan (Dev Anand) is out celebrating his birthday with a party with his friends. Manmohan returns unexpectedly, depressed and in melancholy from that party. Now the movie shows a flashback of the party, where Manmohan—within the course of a few brief minutes—gets several bad jolts. First, he sees (standing outside the party hall) his old friend Deepak (Krishan Dhawan), who's come to wish well to Manmohan for his birthday. Despite much cajoling on Manmohan's part, Deepak refuses to come inside—he insists that he, in his simple clothes, will be out of place amidst all those suits and glittery saris. Manmohan, who seems to genuinely like his friend, accepts that, and then apologises for not having kept in touch with Deepak. "I remember you'd told me that your wife was ill, and you needed money for her treatment", Manmohan tells Deepak. "But I went away to Kashmir with some friends, and forgot all about that. I hope bhabhi's better now." Then comes the first shock: Deepak's wife died as a result of that illness. Still shaken, Manmohan eventually goes back into the party hall, and here he receives two more shocks. First, he hears a 'friend' telling others that he's made friends with Manmohan in order to get a business deal through. Then Manmohan overhears his girlfriend Shiela (Bela Bose) telling another man that she only fawns on Manmohan because of his wealth; she doesn't really love him. A disi