MAYA (1966) Continued
Over the next several months, Sajid and his co-stars would film all their scenes on location. The only scene which was filmed in the U.S. involved Maya, the elephant, fighting the two tigers. According to animal trainer, Ralph Helfer, this intricate animal scene (without the human actors) was filmed at his ranch at Africa USA with Debbie, the elephant, and Sultan and Patrina, the tigers (from "The Enclyclopedia of TV Pets. A Complete History of Television's Greatest Animal Stars," by Ken Beck and Jim Clark, 2002.)
Over the next several months, Sajid and his co-stars would film all their scenes on location. The only scene which was filmed in the U.S. involved Maya, the elephant, fighting the two tigers. According to animal trainer, Ralph Helfer, this intricate animal scene (without the human actors) was filmed at his ranch at Africa USA with Debbie, the elephant, and Sultan and Patrina, the tigers (from "The Enclyclopedia of TV Pets. A Complete History of Television's Greatest Animal Stars," by Ken Beck and Jim Clark, 2002.)
Sajid and Jay completed the majority of their scenes for MAYA in February and March of 1965. Producers, Frank and Maurice King, also took part in the film as tourist extras on a bus. Location shooting was not without its challenges, both for Jay coming from the U.S. and Sajid, who was living in a comfortable area of Bombay. There were long travels with the crews to various sites, down difficult roads and trails, as well as the presence of snakes, scorpions, gnats and insects. Filming would sometimes come to a halt when local people had difficulty understanding they were being filmed as extras. At times, scenes would have to be re-done, for example, when Maya would veer off into another direction, and on one occasion, losing her passengers.
The action scenes could also be dangerous. In the latter part of the film, as Jay and Sajid are helping the white elephant (Primo) up the mountain, there were concerns of the elephant slipping and perhaps falling onto the young actors. Two crew members suffered injuries when they fell backwards on the mountain and into rocks. In a July 1966 press release from New York, Sajid and Jay were credited with saving Primo, the tiny elephant, from drowning while filming a scene. In the scene, the two boys cross a jungle river with the elephant tied on a raft for safety. Midway in the water, however, the raft began sinking. According to the story, Jay jumped into the water and held the elephant’s head above water, while Sajid took out a knife and cut the rope in half.
