Mayabazar () is a 1957 Indian Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy. The epic was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under their banner, Vijaya Productions. Produced by Telugu cinema, it was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, with a few differences in the cast. The story is an adaptation of the folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam, which is based on the characters of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It revolves around the roles of Krishna (N. T. Rama Rao) and Ghatotkacha (S. V. Ranga Rao), as they try to reunite Arjuna son Abhimanyu (Telugu: Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Tamil: Gemini Ganesan) with his love, Balarama's daughter Sasirekha (Savitri). The Telugu version features Gummadi, Mukkamala, Ramana Reddy, and Relangi in supporting roles, with D. Balasubramaniam, R. Balasubramaniam, V. M. Ezhumalai, and K. A. Thangavelu playing those respective parts in the Tamil version.
The first mythological film produced by their studio, Mayabazar marked a milestone for Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani. In addition to the technical crew, 400 studio workers – including light men, carpenters, and painters – participated in the development of the film. Director Reddy was meticulous with the pre-production and casting phases, which took nearly a year to complete. Though Rama Rao was initially reluctant to play the lead role, his portrayal of Krishna received acclaim and yielded more offers to reprise the same role in several unrelated films. The soundtrack features twelve songs, with most of the musical score composed by Ghantasala. Telugu lyrics were written by Pingali Nagendrarao and Tamil lyrics were written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. One of those songs, Lahiri Lahiri, was accompanied by the first illusion of moonlight in Indian cinema, shot by cinematographer Marcus Bartley.
Mayabazars Telugu version was released on 27 March 1957; the Tamil version was released two weeks later, on 12 April. Both were critically and commercially successful, with a theatrical run of 100 days in 24 theatres, and it became a silver-jubilee film. The Telugu version of Mayabazar was also dubbed into Kannada. The film is considered a landmark in both Telugu and Tamil cinema, with praise for its cast and technical aspects, despite the limitations of technology at the time. On the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013, CNN-IBN included Mayabazar in its list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time". In an online poll conducted by CNN-IBN among those 100 films, Mayabazar was voted by the public as the "greatest Indian film of all time."
Mayabazar became the first Telugu film to be digitally remastered and colourised, at an estimated cost of 7.5 crore (valued at about US$1.7 million in 2010), after Hyderabad-based company Goldstone Technologies acquired world negative rights to fourteen films including that of Mayabazar in late November 2007. The updated version was released on 30 January 2010 in 45 theatres in Andhra Pradesh. It was a commercial success that generated mostly positive reviews, with one critic expressing a preference for the original.
Plot
Subhadra, the sister of Balarama and Krishna, is married to the Pandava prince Arjuna. Their son, Abhimanyu, falls in love with Balarama's daughter, Sasirekha, and the families formally consent to their eventual marriage upon reaching adulthood. Years later, after the children grow up, Krishna reintroduces the two to cement their bond. However, the political landscape shifts when the Pandavas are invited to a rigged game of dice by Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas. Manipulated by Duryodhana's cunning uncle, Shakuni, the Pandavas lose their wealth, kingdom, and liberty. When Duryodhana's brother, Dushasana, attempts to publicly humiliate and disrobe Draupadi, the common wife of the five Pandava brothers, an enraged Krishna intervenes divinely to save her dignity.
Upon learning of the Kauravas' behavior, an outraged Balarama travels to their capital, Hastinapuram, to confront them. Exploiting Balarama's naive nature, Shakuni and Duryodhana feign immense respect and swiftly propose a marriage alliance between Sasirekha and Duryodhana's son, Lakshmana Kumara. Their true geopolitical strategy is to neutralize Balarama and Krishna, forcing them into an alliance should the exiled Pandavas ever wage war. Unaware of the conspiracy, Balarama readily agrees to the proposal.
Due to the Pandavas' sudden poverty, Balarama's status-conscious wife, Revati, refuses to honor the original commitment to Abhimanyu, eagerly backing the affluent Kaurava alliance instead. Recognizing the underlying deception, Krishna subtly instructs his charioteer, Daaruka, to escort Subhadra and Abhimanyu through the wilderness toward the hermitage of Ghatotkacha, Abhimanyu's powerful demon cousin. After a brief initial misunderstanding where he attacks them as intruders, Ghatotkacha learns of the broken marital pact and vows to launch a full-scale war against both the Kauravas and Balarama. Subhadra and his mother, Hidimbi, pacify him, convincing him to use magical deception instead of outright violence.
With the tacit approval of Krishna and the assistance of Sasirekha's loyal servant, Ghatotkacha uses his mystical powers to levitate the sleeping Sasirekha from her chambers in Dvārakā and transports her safely to his hermitage. He then transforms himself into an exact double of Sasirekha and returns to Dvaraka. Supported by his demonic assistants—Chinnamaya, Lambu, and Jambu—the disguised Ghatotkacha begins orchestrating supernatural disruptions to sabotage the impending wedding ceremonies, thoroughly terrifying Lakshmana Kumara.
To completely isolate and manipulate the wedding party, Ghatotkacha constructs an elaborate, illusory palace and marketplace outside Dvaraka, naming the magical town Mayabazar. He invites the Kauravas to lodge there, while his transformed henchmen masquerade as Balarama's handpicked attendants to trick Shakuni’s lackeys, Sarma and Sastry. Operating as the fake Sasirekha, Ghatotkacha relentlessly torments Lakshmana Kumara and manipulates Duryodhana's wife into doubting the union. Simultaneously, he coordinates the wedding of the authentic Sasirekha and Abhimanyu at his wilderness hermitage. Using his divine omnipresence, Krishna attends the real wedding in the forest while concurrently appearing as a guest at the fraudulent celebration in Mayabazar.
On the designated wedding day, the disguised Ghatotkacha continuously frightens and humiliates Lakshmana Kumara during the rituals, while the real Sasirekha successfully weds Abhimanyu in the forest. When an analytical Shakuni uncovers the absolute deception, he aggressively projects the blame onto Krishna. Satyaki, an ardent disciple of Arjuna, challenges Shakuni to speak while standing atop a magical container. Once Shakuni steps onto the box, the magic forces him to involuntarily confess the Kauravas' fraudulent political motives behind the marriage proposal.
His mission accomplished, Ghatotkacha sheds his disguise and reveals his true identity. After thoroughly routing and humiliating the Kaurava contingent, he banishes them back to Hastinapuram. Witnessing the absolute truth, Sasirekha’s parents gracefully accept her marriage to Abhimanyu. They express their deep gratitude to Ghatotkacha, who humbly credits Krishna as the divine mastermind behind the entire operation. As Ghatotkacha sings hymns of devotion, Krishna manifests his cosmic form as Lord Vishnu, leaving the assembled families unified in prayer.
Cast Cast for both Telugu and Tamil versions
N. T. Rama Rao as Krishna Akkineni Nageswara Rao (Telugu) and Gemini Ganesan (Tamil) as Abhimanyu S. V. Ranga Rao as Ghatotkacha Savitri as Sasirekha (Telugu), Vatsala (Tamil) Relangi (Telugu) and K. A. Thangavelu (Tamil) as Lakshmana Kumara Vangara as Shastri Allu Ramalingaiah as Sharma Valluri Balakrishna as Sarathi (Telugu) Gummadi (Telugu) and D. Balasubramaniam (Tamil) as Balarama Mukkamala (Telugu) and R. Balasubramaniam (Tamil) as Duryodhana C. S. R. Anjaneyulu (Telugu) and M. N. Nambiar (Tamil) as Shakuni Rushyendramani as Subhadra Sandhya as Rukmini Nagabhushanam as Satyaki Mikkilineni (Telugu) and V. K. Srinivasan (Tamil) as Karna Chhaya Devi (Telugu) and Lakshmi Prabha (Tamil) as Revati R. Nageswara Rao (Telugu) and E. R. Sahadevan (Tamil) as Dushasana Suryakantham (Telugu) and C. T. Rajakantham (Tamil) as Hidimbi Ramana Reddy (Telugu) and V. M. Ezhumalai (Tamil) as Chinnamaya Chadalavada as Lambu Nalla Ramamurthy as Jambu Madhavapeddi Satyam as Daaruka Kanchi Narasimha Rao as an old man (Krishna in disguise) Boddapati as Sankuteerthulu Baby Saraswati as young Sasirekha (Telugu)/Vatsala (Tamil) Master Anand as young Abhimanyu Rajani as Bhanumati Master Babji as young Krishna in a play Kakinada Rajaratnam as Yashoda in a play Guru Gopinath as Bhasmasura in Mohini Bhasmasura dance drama Mukku Raju as Vishnu in Mohini Bhasmasura dance drama
Production Development After the success of Pathala Bhairavi (1951), the production company, Vijaya Productions, selected the film's technical crew for an adaptation of Sasirekha Parinayam (1936), also known as Mayabazar. The eighth adaptation of the folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam, it was the studio's first mythological film.
K. V. Reddy wrote and directed Mayabazar, assisted by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, and it was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani of Vijaya Productions. Nearly a year was spent on pre-production and casting. Pingali Nagendrarao assisted with the story, script, and lyrics. Ghantasala composed the film's score, and Marcus Bartley was the cinematographer. Mayabazar was edited by C. P. Jambulingam and G. Kalyanasundaram; Madhavapeddi Gokhale and Kaladhar were the film's art directors.
Casting The film was produced in Telugu and Tamil versions, with a slightly different cast for each. Gemini Ganesan appeared as Abhimanyu in the Tamil version, which was portrayed by Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Telugu. Savitri was retained as the female lead in Tamil also, where her character was named Vatsala instead of Sasirekha. Sachu played the younger version of the character in Tamil. N. T. Rama Rao, hesitant to play Krishna after a negative response to his cameo appearance in Sonta Ooru (1956), agreed at K. V. Reddy's insistence and special care was taken with his costume and body language; Mayabazar was the first of Rama Rao's many appearances as Krishna. According to Rama Rao's widow Lakshmi Parvathi, Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani had initially rejected K. V. Reddy's proposal to cast Rama Rao as Krishna, but he persuaded them into believing that Rama Rao was good for the role. As Rama Rao had a broad chest, K. V. Reddy suggested a slight narrowing to look apt as Krishna. In addition to following other suggestions by K. V. Reddy, Rama Rao read the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and other Puranas to understand Krishna's character and present it properly. S. V. Ranga Rao, described by Nageswara Rao as the film's male lead in interviews, played the character of Ghatotkacha.
In the Telugu version, Gummadi and Mikkilineni were cast as Balarama and Karna, respectively, whilst Sita had a supporting role as Sasirekha's maid. Relangi portrayed Lakshmana Kumara, Duryodhana's son; his popularity inspired a song with him and Savitri. Allu Rama Lingaiah and Vangara Venkata Subbaiah enacted the parts of Shakuni's lackeys, Sarma and Sastry. Kanchi Narasimha Rao played Krishna, disguised as an old man who stops Ghatotkacha when he enters Dwaraka. The playback singer Madhavapeddi Satyam made a cameo appearance as Daaruka, singing "Bhali Bhali Bhali Deva". Ramana Reddy portrayed Chinnamayya, a tantrik who teaches witchcraft at Ghatotkacha's ashram, with Chadalavada and Nalla Ramamurthy playing his apprentices Lambu and Jambu. Nagabhushanam played Satyaki. Valluri Balakrishna was cast as Sarathi, and appeared only in the Telugu version of the film.
Filming