The Chess Players (1977)

Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977)

Director : Satyajit Ray.
Genere : Comedy / Drama / History.
Cast : Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Amjad Khan, Richard Attenborough.
Rating : Master piece

Chess is said to be the king of games and the game of the kings. The objective of the chess is to defeat the opponent’s King with tactical moves. It’s almost like a strategic diplomacy. In this movie “The Chess Players”, set in the mid 1850’s, Satyajit Ray shows two such games in parallel, one is a chess game played between Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey) and the other between The King of Oudh and The East India Company.

Oudh a wealthy country is ruled by a cultured and aesthetic king, the Wajid Ali Shah (Amjad Khan), but the colonial aspirations of British Empire was not ready to accept him. They were only eager in annexing the wealthy Oudh. While this story progress, a parallel story shows two chess-obsessed nobleman who does nothing but play chess all day. They are not interested in anything else, what they need is just a peaceful place to retire from everyday life and play chess undisturbed. The King of Oudh also exhibits a similar character; he is not interested in defending the British or his throne. He devotes his life towards art and poetry.

This is a movie that is to be read between the lines. Ray uses chess as a metaphor to showcase various characteristic of human nature and the situations exists in India. “The Chess Players” can be classified as a multidimensional political satire. The Indian style chess played by Mirza and Mir can be said as a representation of the then Indian rulers while the British used a more aggressive and fast game for easy ending. In the end The King decides to give up his throne and crown to General Outram (Richard Attenborough) to avoid bloodshed. In the mean time Mirza and Mir fights over a chess game. But, when every game reaches its climax a new game starts and every one will forget about the old ones. By hearing the takeover by the British Empire Mirza and Mir decides to change their chess play from the Indian style to the English style.

“The Chess Players” is one of a kind film by the great Master Directior Satyajit Ray. Since the subject of this movie is historic and allegoric in nature, an understanding of the region and time is recommended for full digestion.