THE ENCHANTING ILLUSION
Based on Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
1992 ; COL ; Hindustani; 35mm; 3487.63 Mtrs; 11443 Fts ; 127 Mins; 14 Reels ; CC.No. B-2082 Date: 16/07/92 Catg: A

BANNER
Ketan Mehta Films P. Ltd.
Maya The Magic Shop, NFDC, Discovery of India Building,
Worli, Mumbai - 400 018

CREDIT TITLES
Production & Direction: Ketan Mehta
Screenplay: Ketan Mehta, Sitanshu Yashashchandra
Dialogue: Hriday Lani
Cinematography: Anoop Jotwani
Audiography: Indrajeet Neogi
Editing: Renu Saluja
Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Hridaynath Mangeshkar
Art Direction: Meera-Ashish Lakhia
Costume: Monica Dutta
Stills: Sarvodaya Studio
Re-recording: Hitendra Ghosh
Dubbed at: Aradhana Sound Services, Geetanjali Dubbing, Anand Sound Services
Records: Sterling
Studios: Filmcity, Essel Studio

PLAYBACK SINGERS
Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu, Hridaynath Mangeshkar

CAST
Shah Rukh Khan(Lalit, Maya's lover)
Deepa Sahi (Maya)
Farooque Shaikh
Raj Babbar
Raghubir Yadav
Paresh Rawal
Satyadev Dube
Dr. Shriram Lagoo
Om Puri
Satish Kaushik
Rajesh Vivek
Mahesh Nayak

SYNOPSIS
Maya, a beautiful but extravagant wife of a country doctor (Farooque Shaikh)

Beautiful young Maya (Deepa Sahi) has a mind full of dreams and a body full of desires. One day, her father falls down the stairs and breaks his leg. A young country doctor (Farooque Shaikh) comes to treat him. Love blossoms between the gentle doctor and Maya and they get married.

Initially the excitement of beginning a new life, of redecorating the house and discovering togetherness, gives her a feeling of euphoria. But gradually the monotony of marriage starts setting in. The boredom of the small-town, middle-class existence starts becoming oppressive and she finds escape in a series of extra-marital affairs. At the same time, her craving for a more glamorous life leads her to fantasies of romance and passion. She seeks refuge in the extravagant, hoping that possessing symbols of luxury will provide her some satisfaction, but it only leads her to duplicity, debt and despair.

Even her extra-marital relationships, at first platonic, then passionate, end up as pathetically possessive, making her realize that adultery can become as banal as marriage. The more she gets disillusioned with reality, the further she slips into her fantasy world. And she keeps chasing her self-created mirages till her tragic, comic, heroic and magical end.