‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ or ‘The Chess Players’ is the first and only Hindi movie that Satyajit Ray directed. It stars superb actors like Shabana Azmi, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Saeed Jaffrey and many others. The movie is available to watch for free on Jio Cinema and also available on Amazon Prime Video.
The voice of Amitabh Bachchan is used in the film for narration like many others. The music of the film was composed by Ray himself and the cinematography was handled by Soumendu Roy.
The film is adapted from the short story of the same name by Munshi Premchand. It tells the story of two rich aristocrats of Awadh state, Mirza Sajjad Ali and Mir Roshan Ali, who ignore all the stately affairs and stay involved in the pleasure of playing chess all day long. The film is based on the premise of the sepoy mutiny and it shows how the East India Company is planning to annex the state of Awadh. The Nawab of Awadh, Wajed Ali Shah, is a patron of art and literature and he himself is a poet and he is not able to oppose the British with his full power. Mirza Sajjad and Mir Roshan neglect their wives and they too are unable to protect their estates.
The film beautifully portrays the socio-political status of the elite class of Lucknow and Awadh and also how there was patronage for art and literature in the royal courts. It is a wonderful commentary on the passion for the game of chess and how it affects issues that are far more important for the state and the country. The game of chess is a metaphor for the British slowly annexing the princely states of India through diplomatic and unethical tactics.
If you like historical dramas, this is the one film that you should watch next. You can watch ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ with your family. It is available on Amazon Prime Video and Jio Cinema.
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