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Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players)
| Year | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Producer | Devki Chitra Productions (Suresh Jindal) |
| Distributor | Devki Chitra Productions (Suresh Jindal) |
| Screenplay | Satyajit Ray |
| Based on | The short story Shatranj Ke Khilari by Premchand |
| Dialogue | Satyajit Ray, Shama Zaidi, Javed Siddiqi |
| Photography | Soumendu Roy |
| Editor | Dulal Dutta |
| Art Director | Bansi Chandragupta & Ashoke Bose (Assistant) |
| Costumes | Shama Zaidi |
| Music | Satyajit Ray |
| Sound | Narinder Singh, Samir Majumdar |
| Choreography | Birju Maharaj |
| Animation | Ram Mohan |
| Length | 113 min. |
| Color |
Cast:
| Mirza Sajjad Ali | Sanjeev Kumar |
|---|---|
| Mir Roshan Ali | Saeed Jaffrey |
| Wajid Ali Shah | Amjad Khan |
| General Outtram | Richard Attenborough |
| Captain Weston | Tom Alter |
| Khurshid, Mirza's wife | Shabana Azmi |
| Ali Naqi Khan | Victor Bannerjee |
| Nafeesa | Farida Jalal |
| Aulea Begum, queen mother | Veena |
| Munshi Nandlal | David Abraham |
| Aquil | Farooq Saikh |
| Hiria | Leela Mishra |
| Dr. Joseph Fayrer | Barry John |
| Kalloo | Samarth Narain |
| Imtaiz Hussain | Budho Advani |
| Bookie | Kamu Mukherjee |
The action takes place in 1856, in Lucknow, capital of the moslem kingdom of Oudh. The king is Wajid Ali Shah, who prefers to devote himself to the pleasures of art instead of submitting to the subterfuges and stakes of politics. He dedicates his time, sequestered in his palace, to poetry and to recitals of music and dance. The English Company of India, which is strengthening its grip on the country (in 1858 the British crown would directly take over control of the government), charges general Outtram with dethroning the king, who eventually abdicates without a fight. Parallel to this, two aristocrats ravenously indulge their passion for chess while neglecting everything else, beginning with their respective wives. We first see them playing chess in their houses, and they end up playing outdoors, without having noticed the historic changes ocurring under their noses.
