Mayabazar

Mayabazar (meaning “Market of Illusions”) is a 1957 Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy and produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under Vijaya Productions. It was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, with some differences in cast. Adapted from the folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam, which draws on characters from the Mahabharata, it stars N. T. Rama Rao as Krishna, S. V. Ranga Rao as Ghatotkacha, Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Abhimanyu and Savitri as Sasirekha. The Telugu version was released on 27 March 1957. In a 2013 CNN-IBN poll held for the centenary of Indian cinema, the public voted it the “greatest Indian film of all time”.

What the story is about

Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna and Subhadra, and Sasirekha, daughter of Balarama, have been promised to each other since childhood. When the Pandavas lose their kingdom in the rigged game of dice, Balarama is flattered by Duryodhana and Shakuni into agreeing to marry Sasirekha to Duryodhana’s son, Lakshmana Kumara, and his status-conscious wife Revati backs the wealthier match. Krishna quietly sends Subhadra and Abhimanyu towards the forest hermitage of Ghatotkacha, Abhimanyu’s powerful cousin. Ghatotkacha’s answer is not war but magic: the “market of illusions” of the title. The fun of the film lies in how his tricks unfold, and we leave the details for viewers to discover.

Cast and characters

• N. T. Rama Rao as Krishna. He was hesitant to take the role after a poor response to an earlier cameo but agreed at K. V. Reddy’s insistence; Mayabazar was the first of his many appearances as Krishna.
• S. V. Ranga Rao as Ghatotkacha, a performance Akkineni Nageswara Rao described in interviews as the film’s real male lead
• Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Abhimanyu (Gemini Ganesan played the part in the Tamil version)
• Savitri as Sasirekha in both versions (renamed Vatsala in Tamil), a part that scholars Saugata Bhaduri and Indrani Mukherjee note has her perform two very different sets of emotions
• Gummadi as Balarama, Mikkilineni as Karna, Relangi as Lakshmana Kumara, and Allu Rama Lingaiah and Vangara Venkata Subbaiah as Shakuni’s lackeys Sarma and Sastry

How it was made

After the success of Pathala Bhairavi (1951), Vijaya Productions chose Sasirekha Parinayam as its first mythological film; it was the eighth screen adaptation of the tale. K. V. Reddy, assisted by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, spent nearly a year on pre-production and casting, and timed rehearsals with a stopwatch to plan the film’s length. Pingali Nagendrarao worked on the story, script and Telugu lyrics. Marcus Bartley was the cinematographer, and about 400 studio workers took part. The film’s effects were achieved without modern tools: the “Vivaha Bhojanambu” sequence, in which Ghatotkacha devours a wedding feast, was filmed with stop-motion animation, and for “Lahiri Lahiri” Bartley created what is described as the first illusion of moonlight in Indian cinema.

Music

S. Rajeswara Rao wrote four songs before leaving the project; Ghantasala recorded those and composed the rest of the score. The album has 12 songs. “Lahiri Lahiri” and “Vivaha Bhojanambu” remain among the best-known Telugu film songs, and M. L. Narasimham of The Hindu wrote that the music “flowed at its mellifluous best”.

Release and box office

The Telugu version opened on 27 March 1957 and the Tamil version on 12 April. According to The Hindu, the film ran for 100 days in 24 theatres and became a silver jubilee film. Wikipedia gives no gross figure for the original release, so we do not quote one. A digitally colourised version, the first for a Telugu film, was released on 30 January 2010 in 45 Andhra Pradesh theatres; The Hindu reported that it drew crowds, though Narasimham preferred the black-and-white original, saying the new version was “laudable, but the soul was missing”.

What critics said

Later critics have praised its craft and humour. W. Chandrakanth of The Hindu called it “a feast for the eyes and soul” in 2006, and Narasimham wrote that among the many versions of the story, the 1957 film “is still considered the best for its all round excellence”. In 2013 News18 called it a “pioneer in every sense” and said Rama Rao “proved his calibre as a method actor”. Author Vamsee Juluri described Ranga Rao’s performance as “mighty and majestic”.

Legacy

Several lines and coined words from Pingali’s dialogue, among them “Asamadiyulu” and “Tasamadiyulu” (friends and enemies), passed into everyday Telugu. Songs from the film gave titles to later films, including Jandhyala’s Aha Naa Pellanta (1987) and Vivaha Bhojanambu (1988). S. S. Rajamouli told critic Subhash K. Jha that K. V. Reddy’s work on Mayabazar was a “huge inspiration” for Baahubali: The Beginning and its sequel. The film was also added to the Andhra Pradesh tenth-standard English syllabus, and the Film Heritage Foundation announced in 2015 that it would restore it.

Where to watch Mayabazar

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Mayabazar on file. When a platform’s own listing confirms it, the OTT details on this page will be updated; until then, treat any unofficial upload with caution.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Mayabazar and the reviews and articles it cites, linked above; Wikidata (Q3418150); our own cast and crew records.