The Chess Players (1977)
- Original title
- शतरंज के खिलाड़ी
- Directed by
- Satyajit Ray
- Genre
- drama film, comedy film, historical film
- Country
- India
- Runtime
- 1h 53m
- Rated
- U
- Rating
- 7.0 of 10 from 54 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Two wealthy noblemen in 1850s India ignore their crumbling kingdom around them as they obsess over chess. Their personal distraction mirrors the larger political takeover by the British East India Company.
slow-burnwrymeditativebittersweetintimatemeasuredobservationalunderstated
What happens
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. Amjad Khan plays the role of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Awadh, and Richard Attenborough enacts the role of General James Outram. The main cast includes actors Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey as the chess players. It also has Shabana Azmi, Farooque Shaikh, Farida Jalal, David Abraham, and Tom Alter. It has Amitabh Bachchan as the narrator. It was India's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards, but did not receive a nomination. This is the only full-length Hindi feature film of filmmaker Satyajit Ray. He later made a short Hindi film for TV named Sadgati, another adaptation of Munshi Premchand's short story. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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Abhimaan (1977)
Parivarthanam (1977)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.