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Mayabazar (Telugu, 1957) review

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1957 · Telugu · 3h 01m · Fantasy, Drama, Comedy · CBFC U/A

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Filmi Score

Exceptional

4 reviews · provisional

3 exceptional1 very good

What the critics say

Critics call Mayabazar a landmark Telugu epic, praising K.V. Reddy's direction, the ensemble cast, Pingali's dialogues, Ghantasala's music and the comedy, with only its dated tribal depiction drawing criticism.

Audience Score · not yet · appears once three readers have written a review

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12 and up

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12+

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Summary

Mayabazar (1957, Telugu) has a Filmi Score of 88 from 4 critic reviews, is rated 12+ by Filmi (CBFC: U/A), and streams on Sun NXT in the US.

Balarama promises Subhadra that he'll marry his daughter to her son. But when the Pandavas lose their kingdom to the Kauravas, Balarama breaks his promise.

Where to watch

SUN NXTWatch now

Box office collection

No sourced figure yet.

Cast & crew

Directed by Kadri Venkata Reddy · written by Kadri Venkata Reddy & Pingali Nagendra Rao · music Saluri Rajeswara Rao & Ghantasala

N.T. Rama RaoLead

S. V. Ranga RaoCast

SavitriCast

Akkineni Nageswara RaoCast

GummadiCast

Kadri Venkata ReddyDirector · Writer

Pingali Nagendra RaoWriter

Saluri Rajeswara RaoMusic

GhantasalaMusic

Marcus BartleyCinematography

G. KalyanasundaramEditing

C. P. JambulingamEditing

Cast

N.T. Rama RaoLead

S. V. Ranga Rao

Savitri

Akkineni Nageswara Rao

Gummadi

Mukkamala

C S R Anjaneyulu

Relangi Venkata Ramaiah

Rushyendramani

Nagabhushanam

Mikkilineni

Rajanala Nageswara Rao

Full crew

SoundA. Krishnan

Production designMadhavapeddi Gokhale · Kuppuswamy · Srinivasan K.

ChoreographyKrishnamurthi Pasumarti

MakeupBhaktavatsalam · Peetambaram

Summary

Balarama promises Subhadra that he'll marry his daughter to her son. But when the Pandavas lose their kingdom to the Kauravas, Balarama breaks his promise.

Mayabazar (1957, Telugu) has a Filmi Score of 88 from 4 critic reviews, is rated 12+ by Filmi (CBFC: U/A), and streams on Sun NXT in the US.

Where to watch

SUN NXTWatch now EROS NOWWatch now AMAZON VIDEORent

What the critics said

4 reviews · the critic’s own number where they gave one

The critic’s own number where they gave one

The Hindu

30 Apr 2015

A retrospective making-of feature that treats Mayabazar as the finest of its genre, praising the cast, music and cinematography without… Read it there →

Derived by Filmi

Dustedoff

31 Mar 2019

The blogger calls Maya Bazaar witty, spectacular and thoroughly satisfying, praising the comic performances, songs and effects, and states plainly… Read it there →

Derived by Filmi

The Hindu

21 Apr 2006

A 50th-anniversary appreciation calling Mayabazar a landmark of Telugu cinema, crediting K.V. Reddy's total directorial control, the star… Read it there →

Derived by Filmi

Film Companion

Sagar Tetali · 24 Nov 2022

Tetali frames Mayabazar as a foundational epic whose comedic performances, songs and effects still hold up, faulting mainly its dated,… Read it there →

Derived by Filmi

How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 4 readings; 0 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.

PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo score

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Mayabazar: quick answers

Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.

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Where can I watch Mayabazar?

Mayabazar is streaming on OTT: Sun NXT (India, the US, the UK and Canada), Hungama Play (India), Vi Movies and TV (India), Eros Now (India, the US and the UK) and UltraPlayBox (India). It can also be rented or bought on Amazon Video (the US and the UK). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.

What did critics say about Mayabazar?

Mayabazar has a Filmi Score of 88 (Exceptional), the mean of 4 readings of critic reviews, one per review. The score is provisional until at least five reviews are read. Readings run from 78 (Film Companion) to 93 (The Hindu). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.

What readers say

The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.

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