Maya Memsaab

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Maya Memsaab
Image:Mayaka 45.jpg
Directed by	Ketan Mehta
Produced by	Hriday Lani
Written by	Gustave Flaubert
Starring	Deepa Sahi Farooq Shaikh Shahrukh Khan
Release date(s)	1992
Language	Hindi
IMDb profile

Maya Memsaab (Devnagari: माया मेमसाब, aka Maya and Maya: The Enchanting Illusion in English) is a 1992 Hindi film directed by Ketan Mehta. The film is an Indian version of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary.

1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Songs
4 External link

[edit] Synopsis

Maya, a beautiful but extravagant wife of a country doctor.

Beautiful young Maya (Deepa Sahi) has a mind full of dreams and a body full of desires. One day, her father falls down the stairs and breaks his leg. A young country doctor (Farooque Shaikh) comes to treat him. Love blossoms between the gentle doctor and Maya and they get married.

Initially the excitement of beginning a new life, of redecorating the house and discovering togetherness, gives her a feeling of euphoria. But gradually the monotony of marriage starts setting in. The boredom of the small-town, middle-class existence starts becoming oppressive and she finds escape in a series of extra-marital affairs. At the same time, her craving for a more glamorous life leads her to fantasies of romance and passion. She seeks refuge in the extravagant, hoping that possessing symbols of luxury will provide her some satisfaction, but it only leads her to duplicity, debt and despair.

Even her extra-marital relationships, at first platonic, then passionate, end up as pathetically possessive, making her realize that adultery can become as banal as marriage. The more she gets disillusioned with reality, the further she slips into her fantasy world. And she keeps chasing her self-created mirages till her tragic, comic, heroic and magical end.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is narrated in flashback as a reconstruction of the life of Maya, the beautiful wife of a country doctor. She leads a glamorous life with a series of love affairs while becoming indebted to Lalaji. The film ends tragically when her house is auctioned and she appears to be engulfed by her fantasy life.