Maya is a 1966 American drama, the coming of age story

Bildungsroman

In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...

 of a young man in the jungles of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It was directed by John Berry

John Berry (film director)

John Berry was an American film director, who went into self-exile in France when his career was interrupted by the Hollywood blacklist.-Early Life:...

 and starred Jay North

Jay North

Jay North is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of six, North became a household name during the early 1960s for his role as the well-meaning, but mischievous, Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created...

 and Sajid Khan

Sajid Khan

Sajid Khan is a former Indian actor. He is the adopted son of Indian film producer Mehboob Khan, founder of Mehboob Studios, in India.-Career:...

.

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Terry Bowen (North) travels from the US to India to meet his father Hugh Bowen (Walker) for the very first time. After a dispute with his father, Terry runs away and is befriended by Raji. Together, Terry and Raji have many adventures in the jungles of India. The cultural and religious differences between American Christian Terry and Indian Hindu Raji add to the conflicts in the plot, but together the two boys overcome their differences to survive and to deliver Maya (a sacred white elephant) and her calf to a far away temple.

Cast

• Clint Walker
  Clint Walker
  Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
  
   as Hugh Bowen, an American living in India
• Jay North
  Jay North
  Jay North is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of six, North became a household name during the early 1960s for his role as the well-meaning, but mischievous, Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created...
  
   as Terry Bowen, Hugh's son
• Sajid Khan
  Sajid Khan
  Sajid Khan is a former Indian actor. He is the adopted son of Indian film producer Mehboob Khan, founder of Mehboob Studios, in India.-Career:...
  
   as Raji, an Indian boy who befriends Terry

Sequels

Producer King took the story Maya to television with a television series

Maya (TV series)

Maya was an hour-long U.S. adventure television series that aired on NBC, Saturdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from September 16, 1967 until February 10, 1968...

 that aired on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

during the 1966–1967 season.