Watching Maya made me think of spirited discussions I have had on the BollyWHAT? forums about the films of Deepa Mehta, like Fire and Water. Some critics charge that Mehta's films are exploitative and manipulative - that they pander to a patronizing Western art-house audience by portraying India as a backward, unsophisticated, vicious and superstitious monolith. I strongly disagree with this assessment of Deepa Mehta's films - I find them nuanced, allegorical, and rich. If I ever have seen a film that merited this criticism, though, it's Maya.
Sanjay (Nikhil Yadav) and his cousin Maya (Nitya Shetty) are carefree village kids. They spend their days creating trouble, as kids will, throwing rocks and stealing sweets. They are gently scolded, but clearly loved, by Sanjay's mother (Mita Vasisht) and father (Anant Nag). Their life is idyllic and warm. But when Maya reaches puberty, everything changes in the space of just a few days. The family heads to the neighboring village of Maya's parents to prepare for a mysterious ceremony marking Maya's transition to womanhood. Maya, who only dimly understands what happening to her, is told that she is no longer a child, and discouraged from her familiar play with Sanjay. Sanjay, with even less understanding, chafes against the separation from his playmate and acts out, angering his father. Then, when the day of the ritual arrives, over the terrified protests of Sanjay, Maya is subjected to a trauma that is truly shocking and horrible.
It is shocking and horrible - but perhaps only tenuously related to any real practice. We are told by a title card at the very end of the film that no particular practice has been portrayed; instead, the film is loosely inspired by a variety of religious practices that may or may not still be in currency. Indeed, the film is vague about both time and place, leaving me wondering what its point was supposed to be. All we are shown is an exaggeratedly horrific abuse of an innocent child taking place somewhere in India, amongst a village full of adults complicit in the horror. No one, not even a token character - except a powerless small child who doesn't even understand what is going on - stands up and speaks against the horrors that are presented as accepted and commonplace religious ritual, or even questions them in the slightest.
The result is a film without depth, without allegory, without a message; a film that serves only to shock and disturb its audience with some vaguely presented notion of Indian village life and unspecified, mysterious rituals performed in the name of Hindu gods. The nature of the ritual is kept mysterious until the film's climax, and no explanation or justification is offered - what is the rationale behind the practice? Are all girls subjected to it? If so, why? If not, how are girls selected - why is Maya selected? The complete absence of information or context reinforces the impression that the film's principal goal is to shock rather than to enlighten. Maya could have had depth; it could have made a compelling point about the status of women in rural India, about progress that has been made and steps that still need to be taken. Instead, it's just nasty and shocking and not a whole lot else. It's a terrible waste of so much potential - a waste a talented cast, especially the child actors; a waste of a realistic (up to a point) glimpse of village life; a waste of some very lovely cinematography. Maya is a truly disappointing film.
Maya is available for download at Jaman.com, but I can't say I'd recommend it.