Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977)

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Munshi Premchand (story)
Satyajit Ray (dialogue)

Release Date:

3 October 1977 (India)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | History

Plot:

Wazed Ali Shah is the ruler of one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British, intent on controlling this rich country...

Plot Keywords:

India | Chess | Chess Game | Colonialism

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sanjeev Kumar	...	Mirza Sajjad Ali
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Mir Roshan Ali
Shabana Azmi	...	Khurshid, Mirza's wife
Farida Jalal	...	Nafisa, Mir's wife
Veena	...	Queen Mother
David Abraham	...	Munshi
Victor Banerjee	...	Prime Minister (as Victor Bannerji)
Farooq Shaikh	...	Aqueel (as Farooque Shaikh)
Tom Alter	...	Capt. Weston (Outram's aide de camp)
Leela Mishra	...	Hirya, Khurshid's maid
Barry John
Samarth Narain	...	Kallu
Bhudo Advani	...	Abbajani (as Budho Advani)
Kamu Mukherjee		(as Kamu Mukherji)
Uttamram Nagar

Also Known As:

The Chess Players

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

India

Language:

Urdu | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

India:U | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Indrapuri Studios, Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Devki Chitra

British Policy in India

The Chess Players is a curious film by the famed Indian director Satyajit Ray. Half in Hindi and half in English which is curious in itself. The story is about the take over of the Kingdom of Oudh, capital Lucknow, by the British. It shows the complete deceit of the British in their takeover of the Indian Sub Continent using underhand methods based in their emasculation of the Indian rulers. The Nawab of Oudh is a cultured Muslim ruler in the tradition of The Moghuls. The qualities admired by the culture of the time were not militaristic and patriarchal but cultural and aesthetic. The Nawab often sang songs to his people and danced for them or read poetry and wrote it of course. This was considered by the British to show signs of effeminacy and not good government. I fact the subjects of the Nawab who were for the most part Hindus, loved their Ruler for precisely these qualities and even though he was of a different faith, lived happily in a cultural paradise. The British represented by Richard Attenborough show a total lack of understanding of this culture and in a cynical move annex the kingdom and send the Nawab into exile.There was interestingly enough, no attempt at resistance but a bland acceptance of the will of God. Strangely sad and haunting film from one of India's greatest directors since Independence. Trivia. Lucknow was the city that Cliff Richard was born in and lived as a child before Independence.