Movie Characters I love - Maya from Ijaazat (1987)

Movie characters I love

Maya from Ijaazat (Hindi -1987)

In the movie Ijaazat, Maya is a figment of the writer's (Gulzar) imagination that most people want as a girlfriend, but never as a life partner to spend the rest of your life with. Quirky, eccentric, moody, spontaneous, fun, no-committal, rich, spoilt brat but also self-destructive, and schizophrenic are the traits that define mercurial Maya. Beautifully played by Anuradha Patel (most of us 80’s kids must have had a crush on her I’m sure, and even more so after Shashi Kapoor’s Utsav), plays the love interest of Naseer, a photographer in the movie, who lives a bohemian life, refusing to settle down in life or get tied down in conventionalism. Maya flits in and out of Naseers life, driving him to despair as he is trying to keep up with her mood swings and eccentricities. I don’t remember the details of the plot well, but on a whim, she breaks off her relationship with Naseer, and he is forced to marry a family friend, Rekha, with whom he shares a good life but not his passion.

Even after their marriage, Maya weaves in and out of Nasser and Rekha’s life which as the wife, she good-naturedly and patiently takes it in her stride and quietly adapts to Maya's quirkiness and demands from Naseers life. After some time of this drama between their lives and the inability of Naseer to keep Maya out of their lives, Rekha walks out of their lives and Maya later dies in an unfortunate accident. When Naseer bumps into Rekha at a waiting area of a railway platform, she’s already married to what seems to be a happily settled life and the movie ends there. So, he ends up losing both the loves of his life, is the story

While this entire movie is well made, with beautiful acting by the principals, melodious songs and deep meaning lyrics, superb cinematography by Santosh Sivan in exotic locales like Kudremukh and Chikmangalore, but what stays with the audience (with me at least) is the ethereal, quirky and impulsive charm of Maya. She doesn’t respect societal norms (yes, she’s schizo) but yet at the same time she has a sensitive side where she confesses that her intrusion in Naseers life may cause marital strife, but she still does it anyway hoping the wife wouldn’t mind her outsized presence in their lives. It doesn’t work as such in real life, but it’s a movie. The genius of Gulzar is such that he breathes this quixotic life into Maya's character. Even the single melancholic song that the character hums (listed below) seem so whimsical where she’s asking for her things to be returned back from her estranged lover after their breakup. Not any material possessions mind you, but the esoteric intangibles

‘Ek sau solah chand ki raaten, (One hundred sixteen moon-light nights)

Aur ex tumahare kandhe ka til (And the mole on your shoulder)

Gheeli mehendi ki khusboo (the fragrance of wet henna)

Jhoot mooth kay shikway kuch’ (Pretend quibbling between us)

Jhooth mooth kay vaade bhi

Kuch yaad kara do (Let me remind you, of all your false promises)

Give me back all these, since they are rightfully mine. Genius of Gulzar

In my opinion, Gulzar is one of the deepest and original creative talents in Bollywood. Mausam, Raincoat, Hu tu tu, Namkeen, Aandhi are some of my favorite Hindi movies).  Maybe he intended Maya as this crazy girl that fits well within the narrative of the script. Or maybe Maya (illusion) is that phase of all our lives that’s fleeting, transient, crazy, and carefree and one that’s over before you know that you ever had it. Maybe Maya is that part of all of us that we really crave to have, but can’t really have? Maybe Maya is that phase of life when everything seems achievable, possible, fun before the pressure of reality grinds you into facing the mundane? Or she just plain nuts. Whatever it is, it’s one of his characters that I love.

Know what I’m saying? Lemme know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlvXDGJAMT0&ab_channel=GaaneSuneAnsune