The Chess Players

Legendary Bengali director Ray's only film in Urdu, Shatranj Ki Khiladi or The Chess Players, looks at the denouement of Indian Muslim power in the 1850's, focusing on the northern state of Oudh, also known as Awadh, prior to the epochal 1857 'Mutiny'.

The film contains two narratives. One narrative focuses on the political machinations of the bullish, pragmatic representative of the British, General Outram, played capably by Richard Attenborough, and the diffident response of the cultured but cloud-headed Indian Muslim King of Oudh, played with great feeling by Amjad Khan.

The other narrative shifts focus to the tragi-comic situation of two well-born Indian Muslim gentlemen, played by the always-wonderful Saeed Jafarey and Sanjeev Kumar, and their obsession with a game of chess, leading them to neglect the momentous tide of history which is about to sweep over them. Indeed, not only is chess a metaphor for the power struggle between Indian and British, but the two chess players' family situations are too, with both men locked into domestic struggles with their wives, the haughty, beautiful Khurshid, played with characteristic commitment by Shabana Azmi and the lascivious, lying Nafisa, well-played by Farida Jalal.

The twin approach is useful and well integrated, and there is even some humorous animation. Ray brings his characteristic eye for ravishing beauty, balanced with his close, sympathetic interest in humanity, particularly when under pressure, and a real feeling for the period. Also typical is the universality of the director's humanitarian outlook, with the nominally Hindu Ray studying Muslims and the British with the same warm but clear-eyed assiduousness.

Overall, this is a film, like all of Ray's films, to treasure, not only for a person of Indian ancestry such as myself.

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.

Shatranj Ke Khilari is Sayajit Ray's first Hindi movie. It is, though a bit too slow at points, special, different, comic, and as a result unusually entertaining. This satirical drama is humorous, interesting and impressive, and Ray's direction is excellent. It is evidently well invested, with glossy sets and costumes. The writing is superb, with the brilliantly-written dialogues surpassing the storyline itself, and the culture and the atmosphere of those times is captured exceedingly well. All these aspects, along with the music composed by Ray and the fantastic narration of Amitabh Bachchan, create an engagingly artistic and poetic piece. Ray casts some of the most talented leading actors from the Hindi film industry, all of whom suit their roles and do a wonderful job. Amjad Khan is great as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey are exceptional as the chess-obsessed noblemen, who ironically indulge in ceaseless chess playing while showing minimal interest in the state of their marriages, wives and even their nation. Shabana Azmi and Farida Jalal play their neglected wives, and they excel in their very tiny roles (each has only a few minutes on-screen). Azmi is convincing as the frustrated Khurshid and Jalal is awesome as the unfaithful wife who has an affair with her husband's nephew Aqueel. Richard Attenbrough and Victor Banerjee provide great support. Shatranj Ke Khilari is a nice little film. It is not among the very best of Ray, but it is certainly a worthy picture and of the most strikingly unique films of those times.

Previous reviews have puzzlingly stated that this is one of the first films to break away from the commercial traditions of Bollywood. In fact, it belongs to a different tradition altogether - art cinema reflecting social themes - which has been going on since at least the early 1950s in India (where it was initially strongly influenced by Italian neo-realism) in the work of Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak. All three were, perhaps significantly, Bengalis, and partook of the rich intellectual traditions of that region, most widely associated with the great poet and national figure Rabindranath Tagore.

The Chess Players is a delight from beginning to end. Taking its cue from the origins of chess as a war-strategy training game, Ray builds two narrative strands in parallel: in the mid-1850s, a pair of idle aristocrats become obsessed by chess and play it all day long, oblivious to the collapse of their domestic relationships that it causes; and in the larger world outside, the scheming and strategy of the chess-board is played out in the real-life scheming of the East India Company as it attempts to manoeuvre the Nawab of Oudh from his throne and bring the state within British jurisdiction. The two plotlines are beautifully brought together at the end when, after hearing that Company troops have moved in and the Nawab has abdicated, the chess-playing friends change their board layout to the Western manner, which involves the king and queen changing their starting positions: "Move over, king. Make way for [queen] Victoria!"

There are fine performances all round: from Amjad Khan as the Nawab, whose infinitely delicate sensibilities lead to infinite puzzlement at the connivings of the less fastidious, to Richard Attenborough as the Company representative in Oudh whose job it is to unseat him, who manages to convey a genuine belief that the state needs to be better run, with an underlying realization that he has no right to do what he is doing. Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey, as the chess players Mirza and Mir, both have extremely expressive faces that can switch from blustering bonhomie to pained hurt, or from deadpan seriousness to quizzical amusement, in a heartbeat. Jaffrey's talent for comedy will come as no surprise to viewers of his English-language films, and he provides the film's finest comic moment when he walks into his bedroom to find his wife trying to hide her lover (his nephew) under the bed - a moment straight out of a Feydeau farce.

Two moments of great artistic beauty stand out for me. First, when the Nawab, overwhelmed by the political situation while in conference with his ministers, seeks solace in a haunting, graceful song he had composed in a happier time (actually composed by Ray - perhaps the director showing us his self-identification with the character). Second, in a scene where Mir is left on his own at the chessboard while Mirza goes off to "see what the trouble is" with his wife, the camera follows Mir as he gets up and goes out into the hallway to see where his friend has got to. The camera then stays still as he retraces his steps, and in the vertical slice of light caused by a gap between two curtains that separate the hallway and the chess room, we see framed the precise point on the chessboard where Mir's hand slowly and surreptitiously comes into view as he sneakily moves one of the pieces. A virtuoso piece of camerawork and compositional framing that, like the film as a whole, never fails to enchant.

Shatranj Ke Khilari is the first Hindi film by who is undoubtedly the best film-maker India has ever had. Satyajit Ray made this movie in 1977, having established his reputation worldwide as an ace director with his Bengali art pieces.

Based in mid 19th century, this is an account of the British annexation of one of the last independent kingdoms of India, Awadh. The British, by that year, have quite a firm hold on the subcontinent and are keen to swallow down everything that has not yet been under their direct control. So the East India Company and its representative General Outram decide that it was time for the ruling king, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to step down from his throne.

Wajid Ali Shah, the king, is that only by name. He is an indifferent ruler whose days and nights are occupied not with the affairs of state, but the artistic charms of music, poetry and dance. He is a ruler who finds it convenient to leave the important matters regarding his kingdom to his subordinates, while he indulges in life's countless pleasures. Inevitably, the British, sensing a weak king, are tempted to take over the control of the province.

Meanwhile, two of the king's friends, Mirza Sajid Ali and Mir Roshan Ali are busy satisfying their own personal urges. In a time when the king needs their help desperately, they engage all day in the old Indian game of Chess. Oblivious and indifferent to what is happening to Lucknow and their own private household, these chess-crazy men spend days challenging each other to games of a sport played with soldiers which are not real, but wooden pieces which move on a small 64-squared board. Their inconsequential moves on that board act as a substitute to the possible resistance they could have shown to the British takeover.

It is extremely difficult to find flaws in such a movie. As with all Ray movies, this movie doesn't have too much of a storyline to boast about. This is just a beautiful account which epitomizes the kind of inactivity and submission our country had sunk into in those times. The acting is, as expected, spotless. Everyone has done his part to perfection. The direction and camera-work are as good as any other Ray movie. The dialogues are as precise as we have got from movies like Umrao Jaan or Mughal-E-Azam. Each and every line spoken is worth listening to again and again. As an added attraction, Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice for the narration, which is something he has done quite well.

The pace of the movie being slow, it is of course not everyone's cup of tea. But this movie is a must-watch for its brilliant acting and direction. And no other form of art can possibly be more expressive of the Indian mentality back in the 19th century.