Maya (1966 film)

Maya
Directed byJohn Berry
Screenplay byJohn Fante
Story byGilbert Wright
Based onMaya (1966 novel)
by Jalal Din
John Fante
Lois Roth
Produced byFrank King
Maurice King
StarringJay North
Sajid Khan
Clint Walker
CinematographyGünther Senftleben
Edited byRichard V. Heermance
Music byRiz Ortolani
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • May 26, 1966 (1966-05-26) (Germany)

  • June 22, 1966 (1966-06-22) (United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Maya is a 1966 Metrocolor/Panavision American coming-of-age story drama about a young man in the jungles of India. The film was directed by John Berry and stars Clint Walker, Jay North and Sajid Khan. Italian composer Riz Ortolani, creator of the soundtrack for Mondo Cane and Pupi Avati's films, provided the musical score.

Plot

Fourteen-year-old Terry Bowen travels from the U.S. to India to meet his father Hugh Bowen for the first time. After a dispute with his father, Terry runs away and is befriended by Raji. Together, Terry and Raji have many adventures in the jungles of India. The cultural and religious differences between Terry, an American Christian, and Raji, an Indian Hindu, cause conflict. However, the boys overcome their differences and survive to deliver Maya, a sacred white elephant, and her calf to a far away temple.

Cast

Adaptations

A television series based on the film aired on NBC during the 1967–1968 season for 18 episodes. Sajid Khan and Jay North reprised their roles. The series presented a retroactive continuity of the original film premise. In the series, Terry Bowen, approximately a year older than he is in the film, arrives in India to reunite with his father, who he soon learns is missing and presumed to have been killed by a tiger. Facing deportation back to the United States, Terry escapes the authorities and meets orphaned runaway Raji and his pet elephant Maya. The boys search for Terry's father, whom Terry hopes is still alive. Over the course of the series, the two boys and the elephant continue their search but never find Terry's father.

The film was adapted as a Dell comic book, also titled Maya, in December 1966.[1][2]

See also

References