The Chess Players

The Chess Players (1977)

शतरंज के खिलाड़ी

Satyajit Ray's First Hindi feature Film

In the year 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the King of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British intend to control this rich land and send General Outram to clear way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political maneuvers, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either — noblemen Mir and Mirza ignore all duties and spend their days playing endless games of chess.

Date of release
1977-10-02
TMDB
7.1 / 10 (59)
Runtime
2h 9m
Genres
Drama
Director
Satyajit Ray

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Shatranj ke khiladi
  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Shatranj Ke Khilari, also subtitled and later internationally released with the translated title The Chess Players, is a 1977 Indian film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name.

Production

The Chess Players employed stars of the Bombay cinema (Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Shabana Azmi and Amitabh Bachchan as a narrator) together with British actors (such as Sir Richard Attenborough).

The production of the film included studio shootings at Indrapuri Studio in Kolkata, where the sets were designed by art director Bansi Chandragupta. Indrapuri Studio was indeed used to recreate Lucknow for the film. There were location shoots near Lucknow, including in a village close to the city, for outdoor scenes.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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