The Chess Players (Satranj Ke Khilari)
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Written by Satyajit Ray, Shama Zaidi, and Javid Siddiqui from a story by Premchand
1977/India
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
“Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.” – Bobby Fischer
Satyajit Ray gives us a comedy for a change of pace. But not without a heaping helping of social critique.
The film is set in and around Lucknow, India in 1856. Wajid Ali Shah rules over the kingdom of Awadh. He is not much of a ruler or leader but he loves all the trappings of his estate – his crown, his palace, his music and dance performances, etc. He also writes poems and songs and is considered a devout Muslim despite his large harem.
He and his forefathers have kept the kingdom independent by financing many of Britain’s wars and providing troops for these. This is no longer enough for the British, who deputize General Outram (Richard Attenborough) of the East India Company to demand that Ali Shah sign a treaty that includes terms requiring his abdication. The British are prepared to fight if necessary.
In the meantime, two nobles, Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey), who by rights should be advising the king and organizing resistence, play chess day and night. They have become completely obsessed ignoring the outside world completely, including their wives. When the wife of one of them steals their chess peaces, they pursue increasingly ludicrous means of carrying on with the game at various locations. I’ll end here
I enjoyed this one. It’s absolutely beautiful to look at and, along with the comedy of the chess players, provides a social critique on how India contributed to its own demise. Recommended, but if you’ve never seen a film by Ray, I’d strongly suggest starting with the Apu Trilogy.
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