Maya Mayavan was produced by the south Indian movie mogul, T. R. Sundaram, under his banner, Modern Theatres, in Salem, and advertised as “Unnatha Thamizh Stunt Padam!” (a top-class Tamil stunt film!). The forgotten filmmaker, B. Sampathkumar, who hailed from the old Princely State of Mysore, directed the film. He directed a few Tamil movies of which the M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar hit film of 1936, Sathya Seelan , was the most popular.
Maya Mayavan was written by S. Velsamy Kavi, who was closely associated with Sundaram and Modern Theatres.He also wrote the lyrics, but, like most of the old-timers, is forgotten today.
Maya Mayavan is an action story about a wolf in sheep's clothing (Varadachar) with an attractive dancer-mistress (Susheela Devi). He has a weakness for women and is after a young, good-looking woman (Kokila), whom he tries to make his own by hook or crook. A detective Jagadish (Sampangi) takes over the case of rescuing Kokila, with whom he falls in love. The two face many hurdles created by the villain and his henchmen but, using his detective skills, he succeeds in rescuing his sweetheart and the two get married.
A predictable tale, but Sampathkumar, guided by Sundaram, made it interesting on-screen with fights, car chases, kidnappings and such events that were a novelty in Tamil Cinema during those years.
Sampangi, a stage artiste, who had his own troupe and staged plays all over South India, also appeared in a few movies, but never made a mark. Today, few remember him.
The heroine, Susheela Devi, was an attractive young woman and a good dancer who did some of the earliest cabaret sequences in the 1930s. She did the exciting dance in Ellis R.Dungan's classic Sathi Leelavathi' (1936) which introduced several new talents to cinema such as S.S. Vasan, M.K. Radha, N.S. Krishnan, T. S. Balaiah, and last but not the least, M.G. Ramachandran.
Susheela Devi was a noted dancer-actor who danced in many cinemas in South India during the screening of a movie! The screening would be stopped and Susheela would dance for a while. On those days, the box office collections were more than usual!
Another interesting feature of Maya Mayavan was the noted actor and singer (known as the ‘Saigal of South India') P. G. Venkatesan who lent his voice to quite a few songs off-screen without appearing in the movie!
A lawyer of Madras city, Venugopala Sarma, with an interest in movies, played a role. He was handsome and dressed impressively, sporting a colourful turban. He was a familiar figure in the city's art circles as well as the corridors of the Madras High Court.
Maya Mayavan did not leave much of an impact on viewers, but old-timers remember it. It was the third film produced by Sundaram at his Salem studios which he launched in 1937. The first two productions were Sathi Ahalya and Padmajyothi . Not many are aware that Sundaram is the only producer in the country to have made a hundred movies in different languages — Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Sinhala and even English in less than 30 years.
Remembered for the interesting storyline, exciting car chases on lonely highways, kidnappings and thrilling sequences, rarely seen in Tamil Cinema of that era.
