Maya Bazaar revisited!

Cheeniya · May 1, 2015

My dear Syamala
I love these reviews of old films. They take me back to the time when in my desperation to see those great movies, I would buy tickets in black market! I do not know who writes these reviews in Hyderabad Edition of The Hindu but in the Chennai Edition, it is written by one Randor Guy. He too is a very close friend of mine. His real name is Rangadurai. He is well informed not only on the old movies but also the famous Barristers of Chennai, famous murder trials of last century etc. I have sat with him in the club and listened to his stories with rapt attention.

I'll be meeting Alan Bartley, son of Marcus Bartley next Friday over dinner. I'll tell him that his father has a great fan in Hyderabad!
Sri

shyamala1234 · May 2, 2015

Dear Cheeniya sir,
In Hyderabad edition it is M.L. Narasimham. I do not know much about him.
He was mentioning two scenes which Marcus Bartley mastered......
"At the pond child Sasirekha sits and her image is seen in the water which turns into ripples, the growing up Sasi's (Savithri) in the water, without a cut in the scene. In the song sequence Lahiri Lahirilo...the boat ride scene was shot for a few seconds at noon in Ennore lake near Chennai and the rest of the song was shot in a studio set with his trade mark moon light effect and shown as if the entire song was shot at night in the lake." I enjoyed the film, I like the song but never observed these finer points!!! Tell Alan Bartley that there are many many fans in Hhyderabad and all the Telugu speaking people are fans of Maya Bazar,
his father and all the actresses and actors.
It took four days of shoot to get the right effect for the laddo gobbling shots of Ghatotkcha in the song sequence Vivahabhojanambu....which my kids say it is the best scene in the film.
Syamala

Srama · May 15, 2015

Dear Cheeniya sir and @Shyamala1234,

I am grinning ear to ear. Yes, I watched Mayabazar finally and though I enjoyed it so much, especially the lovely colors, the story and every bit of it - I finally realized that it is my dad, and those ah ha moments as I recollected the songs he would sing, his memories that I enjoyed the most. He was a big fan of ANR and ghantasala and knew every song but ...oh I keep talking I feel! As I watched the movie, all his singing, his recitation of the famous lines and the way he would say hai hai nayaka...to my mom every time he thought he would upset her. My dad I tell you sir! Thanks to you, I had a splendid day, well couple of days since I couldn't watch in one sitting.

Thank you both for this!

Cheeniya · May 17, 2015

My dear Srama
To be frank with you, I have never seen Maya Bazaar in colour. It was so colourful even in black and white! I fully agree with you that the songs of the movie were so lilting that they made every one of us a singer! I remember the ladies and gentlemen with voices not suited at all for music singing those songs imagining themselves as an improved version of Ghantasala! I was myself guilty of this excess! I am sure that your dad could sing well, at least better than me but what mattered in those days was that the ability to sing a Maya Bazaar song gave us a pride of place in any gathering! I focussed on the famous dining song of Gatothkacha as it was the easiest to sing!
Sri

RPVAIL · Jun 4, 2015

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

If you happen to meet Alan Bartley again please tell him his father Marcus has fans not only in India but across the globe. It appears as though Mr. Bartley senior has a patent on 'Moonlight songs'.

Again thanks for bringing up the topic on the classic film 'Maya Bazaar'!!

With regards....

Cheeniya · Jun 4, 2015

Dear RPVAIL
I meet Alan every month at the monthly meeting of a Brotherhood of which both of us are members. Marcus was a member too and I used to be with him regularly in early '90s until he died. He had his leg amputated and was confined to bed in his last days but his cheer remained intact till the end.

Moonlit songs! Yes, coming to think of it, he was a specialist! How can I forget 'Vaarayo Vennilave' in Missiamma! Thank you for your FB RPVAIL!
Sri

ojaantrik · Jun 5, 2015

What an analogy dear friend! Is sitting inside your Rambler's Nest comparable to Avimanyu's entrapment? Why, how, good friend? Avinmanyu was fighting against impossible odds encircled by great warriors. While Cheeniya is getting greeted by a shower of flowers simply for poking his head out of his nest. Nor can you escape with the Perumal Murugan story. You were not called up by authorities for anything you ever uttered inside your nest. Even the winter thing does not convince me. Winter in Chennai? That could be the title of an humour filled story or novel perhaps, but not the reason for Cheeniya sitting silently, with or without pen and paper or keyboard or whatever. And now you have invented that K-thing, which is not even half an excuse.

Come good fellow, regale us as you used to. Why used to? Even recently you have produced one of your fascinating pieces. I have already said that somewhere I seem to recall. In my new found old age youth, I have a distinct suspicion that I am attacked by Alzheimer's.

Well that's my problem. In your case, I suspect you are rewriting the Abhimanyu tale. They have circled around you refusing to let you leave for they want to keep on listening to your mellifluous singing.

oj

Cheeniya · Jun 5, 2015

My dear OJ
That was like the Spanish Inquisition! So many questions! I was talking of Writer's Block and I had to give an example that would make people easily understand my predicament. Honestly your absence for a while emboldened me to write it! Had I known that you were lurking round the corner, I would have skipped writer's block as a subject and written about the effect of Kalinga War on Emperor Asoka!
You are talking of Abhimanyu fighting against impossible odds but don't you see my odds are impossibler, I mean more impossible? Fighting mighty warriors is child's play compared to getting something out of a slumbering mind.

But I must place on record my deep sense of gratitude for your confidence in my writing skill. I shudder at the prospect of having to live up to such expectations!
Now talking of Alzheimer's, a club friend of mine was once asked if he was destined to suffer from either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, what would be his choice. He said Parkinson's and when asked why, he said with Parkinson, my hands would be shaky that might cause some whisky to spill but with Alzheimer's, he would not even remember where his whisky bottle is!
Sri

kaniths · Jun 10, 2015

Hello Sir... Having read your feedbacks in IL, I'm becoming a fan of your writing! I finally found time to read your rambling ( if you call this as your rambling what to call mine?!! ). Being the newbie I did not realise you were having "ramblers block"... Guess your feedbacks were acting as fillers for rest of us!

About Maya Bajaar movie... Its my dad's all time favourite movie... He would watch everytime its on TV. I could not appreciate much the visual effects as you know how the graphics are these days! Nevertheless wonderful creations with whatever tech they had that time! Apart from the Kalyana... Song I enjoy the comedy by the Asura guards trying to learn Tamil! Evergreen indeed! One other movie my dad likes is Cho's Mohammed Bin Tuglak! He says it fits the current political situation as well... Back to topic, Please write more, that is if your claim of suffering a block before this post is true!

Cheeniya · Jun 11, 2015

Dear kaniths
Fan is a big word! Don't scare me with such terms. It puts a lot of load on my head because sustaining such a fan following will be next to impossible for me. How can I do it when even our Super Star Rajni is finding it difficult to keep his fans? Just be my regular reader and that will be motivation enough for me to keep writing. I have written over 180 threads so far and they have generated a lot of goodwill for me. I do not normally go into heavy or controversial areas. What I write is pure rambling and if it makes sense occasionally, it is purely accidental! I just want to create a 'feel-good' feeling with what I write and beyond that I have no designs!

Maya Bazaar's visual effects were a great sensation when it was first released in 1957. The trick shots started only after the entry of Gatothkachan in the movie. We would wait patiently for his arrival and then start whistling and shouting until our throats went sore! When the disciples of Gatothkachan created the Maya Bazaar with their magical powers, we went hysterical with excitement. Today's graphics may be mind boggling but they are so cold! I found the scenes in Enthiran half as exciting as what I saw in Maya Bazaar over 50 years back.

Thank you for all your kind words. I'll keep writing until the ink in my pen runs dry!
Sri