Directed by:
Satyajit RayComposer:
Satyajit RayPlots(1)
A colorful period drama about colonialism and indigenous culture, the film is set in 1856 at the court of Wajid Ali Shah in Lucknow, the capital of Oudh featuring two parallel narratives. The first, based on Premchand’s short story, shows the interminable games of the ancient Indian chess played by two hookah-smoking landlords Mir Roshan Ali and Mirza Sajjad Ali who are ignorant of their wives as well as of a different kind of chess played by the British. The other dramatizes the conflict between Wajid Ali Shah and General James Outram who represents Lord Dalhousie’s treacherously implemented annexation policies. Wajid Ali is shown as a politically weak and effete figure who prefers arts to the matters of state or politics. (Venice International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
![Sanjeev Kumar](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/819/159819158_9eb28b.jpg)
Sanjeev Kumar
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
Flames of the Sun (1975)
![Saeed Jaffrey](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276587_931e35.jpg)
Saeed Jaffrey
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
The Far Pavilions (1984) (series)
The Far Pavilions (1984)
![Shabana Azmi](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/167/904/167904002_3lc3c7.png)
Shabana Azmi
India
Best movies:
1947 : Earth (1998)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
The Chess Players (1977)
![Farida Jalal](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276563_4009d1.jpg)
Farida Jalal
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
Pinjar (2003)
The Brave Heart Will Take the Bride (1995)
![David Abraham](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/103/160103296_2c461b.jpg)
David Abraham
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
![Victor Banerjee](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/298/159298295_dab326.jpg)
Victor Banerjee
Best movies:
Dadah Is Death (1988) (TV movie)
Bitter Moon (1992)
The Chess Players (1977)
![Farooq Shaikh](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/843/159843112_6641c9.jpg)
Farooq Shaikh
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
This Youth Is Crazy (2013)
Maya: The Enchanting Illusion (1992)
![Amjad Khan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/893/159893481_7dce3e.jpg)
Amjad Khan
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
Flames of the Sun (1975)
Rocky (1981)
![Richard Attenborough](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/269/269536_c92229.jpg)
Richard Attenborough
UK
Best movies:
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Great Escape (1963)
Hamlet (1996)
![Amitabh Bachchan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/273/273647_09d2d4.jpg)
Amitabh Bachchan (narrator)
Best movies:
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
Padman (2018)
Black (2005)
Agha
India
Best movies:
The Chess Players (1977)
Rocky (1981)
Tom Alter
India
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
The Chess Players (1977)