After watching movies like, Lord of the Rings, Troy, Harry Potter, Flash Gordon etc, one would wonder what this movie made by Indians in 1957 offers in terms of story, special effects, acting and all. But there ends the doubt. Maya bazaar is a tale which revolves around the kidnapping of Balarama's daughter Sasi rekha by Bhima's son Gatothgaja and her wedding to Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna. Full of special effects, camera tricks by the famous camera man Marcus Bartley, this movie is a visual feast to even modern audiences. The incredible star cast includes SVR, NTR, ANR, CSR, Relangi, Ramana Reddy, Savitri, Mukkamala, Mikkineni, and Surya kantam is unmatched in any other such venture. One can doubtlessly credit each of the above actors with a modern day Oscar (for lack of better recognized awards).
The story starts with Balarama promising his sister Subhadra that her son Abhimanyu,(Arjunas son) will be given his daughter Sasi rekha in marriage. This is endorsed by Balarama's brother, Sri Krishna. Abhimanyu and Sasi rekha are just kids when this promise is made and they eventually grow up separately in their own houses i.e Indra prasta and Dwaraka respectively. But as fate would have it, the Pandavas lose their wealth, kingdom in an unjust game of dice and are condemned to a 13 year exile by the Kauravas. Subhadra along with Abhimanyu seeks asylum with her brothers, Balarama and Sri Krishna. Balarama sets out to condemn the injustice done by the Kauravas to the Pandavas. But the Dushtachatushtayam (evil quadrangle formed by Duryodhana, Dushyasana, Sakuni and Karna) honour the furious Balarama and pacify him with praises and trick him into believing that the game of dice was won in a just way. The easily pleased Balarama returns to Dwaraka after promising Duryodhana that Sasi rekha would become his son's wife.
This news reaches Subhadra and she feels insulted by this gesture made by her own brother in seeking alliance with the enemies of her husband. Sasi rekha who is in love since her childhood with Abhimanyu is heart broken. Subhadra and Abhimanyu plan to leave Dwaraka unable to bear this. But the All knowing Sri Krishna, asks the charrioteer to take them to Gatothgaja's ashram instead. In course of time, after a few encounters with Gatothgaja's rakshasas and with Gatothgaja himself, Abhimanyu and Subhadra are united with Gatothgaja and his mother Hidimbi who is Bhima's wife. The brothers plan to take revenge on the Dushtachatushtayam after Abhimanyu recounts to his brother the events leading to Sasi rekha's planned wedding with Lakshmana, Duryodhana's son. Eventually, Gatothgaja with the help of Sri Krishna, kidnaps Sasi rekha and transports her to his ashrama where she is united with Abhimanyu. Gatothgaja, with his maya disguises himself as Sasi rekha and replaces her in Dwaraka after asking his henchmen Chinnamaya to build a welcome palace for the Kauravas who are set to arrive with the wedding procession. Chinnamaya along with Lambu and Jambu designs and builds a welcome palace with his MAYA and that is the MAYA BAZAAR. It is here that the wedding procession arrives with the groom Lakshmana and the Dushtachatushtayam, and the events that follow are hilarious.
The various events that take place in the MAYA BAZAAR where the bride's party caters to all the whims of the groom's party, with a funny twist for each are remarkable. The false Sasi rekha(Gatothgaja in disguise) behaves with Lakshmana in such a way that he starts becoming frightened of her and the final drama at the wedding alter leads the groom's party into believing that the bride Sasi rekha(Gatothgaja in disguise) is possessed by evil spirits. The Dushtachatushtayam blame Sri Krishna for all this because of this partiality towards the Pandavas. Ultimately Sri Krishna reveals to Balarama that the Dushtachatushtayam had tricked him by making him fall for their courtesy into this and explains that the true Sasi rekha is being married to Abhimanyu for the same muhurtam. The Dushtachatushtayam are bashed up and transported to Hastinapura and the rest attend Sasi rekha's wedding all by Gatothgaja's maya.
The sequences where Sasi rekha(Gatothgaja in disguise) meets Lakshmana for the first time, where Sasi rekha(Gatothgaja in disguise) eats up the food meant for the entire host, where Chinnamaya, lambu and jambu torture the groom's sidekicks are totally hilarious. The director has left no stone unturned in squeezing the best from all the cast. Songs are wonderful and are melodiously informative. Poems are circumstantial adding punch to the already marvelous dialogues. The skeleton for the story is derived from the Mahabharata but the meat is mostly fictional.
I have a personal feeling that this is the best movie, ever made. This is a movie for everyone and is made to perfection.
