ABSTRACT
Revisionist film adaptations of the canonical works of World Literature, can estrange us by dramatically transforming and revitalizing their source texts through provocative changes in locale, epoch, casting, genre, perspective, performance modes, production processes, and even basic formats. A high proportion of feature films consist of filmic adaptations drawn from the literary commons of classic texts, the rich domain of non-copyrighted or public domain material. Revisionist adaptations of canonical texts, sample source texts drawn from the literary commons, available to be poached, borrowed, transformed, parodied, and reinvoiced for the aesthetic and social needs of a new time and place. Although relatively realistic within Bollywood norms, Maya features the extravagant musical production numbers typical of Bombay cinema. Through a generic division of labor, the non-musical episodes represent life in a fairly verisimilar manner, while the songs represent life as dreamed and fantasized, thus proving a platform for something like Flaubert’s counterpoint of styles.
